


While You Were Sleeping

by orphan_account



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-01 02:05:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 47,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5188037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry looked up to Harrison Wells. The man had been his hero for so long. On top of that, he had saved his life and had helped Barry become a hero himself. </p><p>And yet... he couldn't help feeling... unbalanced... when those piercing blue eyes looked at him with so much knowledge in his gaze.</p><p>So when Oliver tells him that he can always talk to him, he maybe takes that as more of an invitation to visit Starling City whenever he wants than the vigilante really means.</p><p>But Barry would much rather feel a certain pair of blue eyes on him in Starling City than he would have another pair watching him so closely in Central City.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So trigger warnings here for non-consensual touching here.

He hadn’t planned it.

Looking back, it was astonishing that one of activities he derived so much pleasure from was something he had never planned to engage in. After all the planning he had done! It was remarkable, really.

It had been an impulse. A passing fancy that he couldn’t resist.

He had just been lying there in that hospital bed. 

Barry Allen. The Flash. His most hated rival. The boy he had failed to eliminate and the young man he needed so badly to get home.

He was alone with him. The Wests weren’t around. Iris had dragged her father away to get food and rest.

He had looked so _helpless_ lying there. At his mercy. He could do anything to the younger man and not only could Barry not stop, he wouldn’t even _know_.

The realization gave him a heady rush. One that almost compared to the complete freedom that came with utilizing the Speed Force.

He couldn’t resist reaching out to touch.

The boy’s chest was bare save the thin white sheet. He could see the thin hairs on his arms stand up at the time traveler’s hand trailed lightly up the pale limb and down his torso. He pause with a smirk as he pressed his thumb to the comatose man’s nipple and it hardened at his touch.

Or maybe it was just a reaction to the cold air after he had pushed the sheet down. If he wanted to know his touch had a true effect, he had to go lower. Of course, that meant he had to remove the young man’s catheter.

Feeling the flesh harden in his hand, the thrill of the power it gave him as the unconscious body tensed under him as the white, sticky fluid exploded from the younger man’s member…

He had gotten hooked.

It was extremely convenient that Detective West allowed Barry to be moved to STAR Labs. Of course, it was still difficult to get alone time with the developing speedster. Caitlin had taken to trying to give the Wests as much privacy with Barry as possible, which meant she did many of the mundane procedures that went with caring for a comatose man, tasks that never failed to make him curl his lip up in disgust, though he hid it well.

Nothing like that was ever done in the future anymore. Things were much more… cleaner.

However, he was usually able to get at least a few hours a week alone with the soon-to-be Scarlet Speedster.

My, how glorious those few hours were!

And he had been able to get away with it for months! With no one any the wiser! It was yet another thing that made him superior to the pathetically unevolved minds around him.

It was frustrating, then, when Barry Allen woke up.

Sure, he had now gained his ticket home, but he had lost a hobby that he had quite enjoyed.

Well, he would just have to figure out a way to… what was the phrase they used in this time… have his cake and eat it too?

tbc…

 


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm working on the theory that there are a few days between Flash vs. Arrow and The Brave and the Bold, as well as a couple of weeks between The Brave and the Bold and The Man in the Yellow Suit. This picks up at the end of Flash vs. Arrow.

“You can always talk to me.”

The casually sincere offer from Oliver meant more to Barry than the vigilante could possibly know. Out of everyone he knew, Oliver probably could understand what he was going through now better than anyone else.

But he couldn’t understand everything. How could he? It wasn’t like the former billionaire had been struck by lightning and gotten superspeed. But considering the only people who might be able to relate to spontaneously getting power seemed to be intent on using them for evil, well, Oliver was the closest thing he got.

“Yeah… thank you,” he replied earnestly. “And you were right. I still have a _lot_ to learn.”

“There is one more thing,” the blond said solemnly. “And you’re not gonna like it.”

“Does it involve you shooting me in the back?” he joked with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

“No,” Oliver said with a surprised laugh. Barry counted it as a victory. In his limited experience, the vigilante didn’t smile nearly enough. “No. The heart.”

The smile slipped from Barry’s face, as his heart leapt in his chest. He wasn’t crazy. Oliver saw it too. Saw that something was _wrong._

“That’s not gonna work out for you,” Oliver told him seriously, nodding in Iris’s direction with a regretful look in his eyes. Barry’s face must have showed his dismay, because sympathy filled Oliver’s blue eyes. “And you need to let her go. For both of your sakes. Guys like us don’t get the girl.”

Barry forgot about his own disappointment as his heart ached for blond, as he looked at Felicity with pained eyes. He had known Felicity had feelings for the vigilante, but he hadn’t realized that Oliver returned those feelings. What had happened?

Even if he had wanted to ask, though, the blonde IT girl was joining them with a smile on her face before her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah!” Barry said, a little too enthusiastically while Oliver nodded in a much more subdued manner.

“Ready to go?” Oliver asked her. She nodded.

“I’ll be seeing you,” Barry told them, a little down that they were leaving so soon. Despite the whole fiasco with Bivolo, Oliver’s presence had been… stabilizing. He felt… safe… with the other vigilante there.

Which was ridiculous. He was perfectly safe. He was a superhero, for heaven’s sake! He really had to get over this.

Oliver pinned him with an indecipherable look. “I’m always here for you, Barry,” he said after a long moment. “Remember that.”

For some reason, he felt a blush rising to his cheeks and vigorously tried to fight it. “Thanks,” he said with a tight smile.

Felicity raised her eyebrow and looked between the two of them before hugging Barry goodbye and dragging Oliver away.

Barry couldn’t help feeling a bit more secure when Oliver’s blue eyes glanced back at him before he walked out of Jitters.

 

 

Okay, so here’s the thing. He had a great team. Barry knew he was lucky.

He’d probably be dead if it weren’t for Caitlin’s brilliance and perseverance. There weren’t a lot of doctors who would single-handedly care for a comatose patient for nine months. Especially those that were also grieving the death of their fiancé.

And Cisco was great. Barry was fairly positive that no one could ever hate Cisco. Not with his boundless enthusiasm and his easy smile.

And Joe. Joe was the man who raised him. His second father. The man who always had the answers. Who was always so wise and patient with a kid grieving for both his parents. The man who was so out of his depth when it came to metahumans but still stuck around. For Barry.

He couldn’t talk to any of them. Not about this.

Joe would overreact. The detective would go into what Iris and he affectionately called papa-bear mode. Which wouldn’t be a _bad_ thing, but Barry didn’t think it would help. Not with this.

And Caitlin and Cisco wouldn’t understand. Couldn’t understand. They trusted Dr. Wells implicitly. Stood by him after the particle accelerator exploded. They wouldn’t understand Barry’s feelings.

Hell, _he_ didn’t understand his feelings. Dr. Wells had been nothing but gracious towards him. Warm. Welcoming. Understanding. He taught him how to use his powers. Helped him grow stronger, _faster_. Counseled him, mentored him. Barry would never have been able to save as many people has he had if it weren’t for Dr. Wells.

It was just… when Wells _looked_ at him…

At first, he had just brushed it off as the man being one of the most brilliant minds that had ever lived. Of course his gaze would make someone who wasn’t as intelligent feel off-balanced. The way Dr. Wells saw the world had to be vastly different from the way people like Barry saw the world. Because while he might be smart, he’d never hope to be _Dr. Wells_ smart.

But there were times when Barry would just look up from talking to Cisco or Caitlin and Dr. Wells would just be _staring_ at him, those icy blue eyes gazing at him as if he could look through him and see _exactly_ what Barry was made of.

It unnerved him. Threw him off kilter. Made him feel _unbalanced_.

He couldn’t escape those eyes. Even when he was nowhere near STAR Labs. Even when he wasn’t wearing the suit.

And it wasn’t just that he had seen what the equipment at STAR Labs could do, _knew_ that those computers could hack into camera in Central City. It was that everything _reminded_ him of Wells.

Hell, even who he was reminded him of the older man. The Flash. The hero that _Wells_ created.

He hadn’t meant to seek refuge in Starling City. It had just _happened_.

He had just gotten up that morning and run the 600 miles to the other city on a whim, _needing_ to get away and with Oliver’s words of always being there for him echoing in his head.

Of course, when he got to Starling City, he had no idea where to find the vigilante. He had run to the back entrance to the foundry, but there was no way Oliver was here. Not this early in the day. The Arrow had probably hung up his hood just before sunrise and was somewhere in a nice, comfortable bed sleeping.

He remembered Felicity saying something about Oliver moving in with his sister, but he had no idea where she lived.

Felicity! He knew where she lived. He frowned, though, as he realized it was a weekday. She’d be at work.

Barry bit his lip, taking his phone out of his pocket and staring at it for a moment. It’d be easy to call either Oliver or Felicity. Either would work, really. Sure, he had come here to take Oliver up on his offer to talk, but he figured Felicity would work too. He needed someone he could trust who was removed from the situation. Both of them fit that really description.

But if Oliver were sleeping and Felicity was at work, maybe he should just not bother them.

Especially for something this dumb. Nothing was wrong. He was just being paranoid. Maybe the lightning bolt had fried his brain a little bit as well as give him his speed.

Still, he had run all this way to get away. Even if he didn’t see his friends, he was still _away_. He smiled to himself at that. Maybe he’d hang around Starling for a bit. It wasn’t like he had anything to do that day. It was his day off, a fact that he had conveniently forgotten to tell Dr. Wells or Cisco and Caitlin, and unless a meta attacked in Central City, no one would be looking for him.

Just as he was about to step out of the alley and try to find some breakfast somewhere, he heard a door open behind him followed by a familiar voice.

“Barry?”

He turned and beamed at Oliver, smile turning sheepish at the blond’s confused and concerned face. “Hey, Oliver,” he said as the other man approached him with a frown. “Thought I’d drop in for a surprise visit.”

The vigilante gave him an unimpressed look. “Something’s wrong.”

And even if Barry had come here to talk, even though he had come specifically to confide his unease to the other man, his first instinct was to deny it. “No!” he said quickly. Too quickly. “Things are fine,” he rambled on, knowing he wasn’t being very convincing. “No one has attacked us in a while and everyone is good and it’s really been really quiet since you guys left…”

“Barry!” Oliver cut him off, grabbing both his shoulders and looking him in his eyes. Barry hadn’t realized how clear a blue they were until just then. Not like Wells’ icy blue eyes, but warm. Like the blue of a bright summer day.

He really was losing it if his mind was waxing poetically about Oliver Queen’s eyes.

“What is wrong?” the other man asked seriously, giving him a look that said he would not let this go.

It was then he noticed just how exhausted the man looked. “Oliver, you’ve been up all night, haven’t you?” he accused with a shake of his head. “Why don’t you go home and get some sleep?”

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong,” he stated firmly.

“It can wait,” Barry said dismissively.

Oliver took his hands off Barry’s shoulders and folded his arms over his chest. “You ran 600 miles. It must be important,” he argued.

He sighed, knowing the other man was going to get some sleep until he gave him something. “I just needed to get away for a while. And 600 miles isn’t that far for me to run,” he pointed out.

The blond gave him a sympathetic smile. “Iris?” he guessed.

Barry started but shook his head. “No, I haven’t really thought about Iris for a while.”

It was true, though he hadn’t realized it until now. He hadn’t really had time. What with the constant unease he felt on top of all the crimefighting and the metahumans and working with Oliver and his team… Iris just hadn’t really crossed his mind in a few weeks. Which was weird because he loved her.

Right?

“But something _is_ wrong,” Oliver said with a frown.

“Look, can we talk about it later? You’re dead on your feet!” Barry exclaimed. “My problems can wait until after you sleep.”

“So you admit there is a problem,” the other man said smugly.

“It’s not exactly a _problem_ , but we’ll talk about it later,” he said with finality. “You need sleep.”

Oliver glared at him but sighed in defeat. “Fine. I will take a two-hour nap in there,” he told him, inclining his head towards the foundry. “And _you_ will talk to me as soon as I wake up.”

Barry huffed a laugh. “Deal.” He made to turn and walk towards the street once more.

Oliver’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?”

“To get breakfast,” he said with a smile. “I just ran 600 miles. I need some calories before I pass out from low blood sugar,” he added with a laugh. He cut off his laughter abruptly, though, as he caught the sharp look of concern the vigilante threw at him.

“Does that happen often?”

“No,” he was quick to assure with a shake of his head. “And it really isn’t that big of a problem. Cisco developed these protein bars that are super-loaded with calories so I eat those throughout the day to keep fueled. But I like breakfast food so I’d rather eat a lot of that than just eat a bar and I thought, since you were going to nap, I’d go do that so that—”

“Barry!” Oliver cut of his rambling with a fond shake of his head. “I get it. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m good,” he said with a grin. He wasn’t even lying. Just being in Starling City with Oliver for these few moments had eased the knot he had been feeling in his stomach for months. “I’m gonna go get food and you can nap and then we’ll talk. Okay?”

“Okay.”

 

 

Oliver frowned at the time. How could it be that a man with superspeed was always _late_?

Right now, Barry was only running five minutes late. Oliver would wait fifteen more minutes before hunting down the younger man.

Thankfully, though, that was not necessary as Barry blurred into the foundry not two minutes later, holding up a bag of food and a cup of coffee triumphantly.

“I got you a Big Belly Breakfast!” he announced with a grin, dropping down next to him onto the cot he had been napping on. “I figured you hadn’t eaten yet.”

“Thanks,” he said, taking the bag and setting it aside. The coffee, he took a sip of, wanting to be as alert as possible for this conversation.

Though he was already pretty on edge. It had taken a lot of tossing and turning for him to get the half hour of sleep he ended up getting. Barry might not have said as much earlier, but he knew the young speedster needed help.

Barry frowned at the bag of food that Oliver had set down. “You should eat that now before it gets cold,” he told him.

“It can wait until after you tell me what’s bothering you.” He gave him an expectant look.

The brunet looked down, hands fiddling nervously with the hem of his sweater. “It really is kinda dumb…” he began with a self-deprecating shrug. “Has anyone ever just made you feel… uncomfortable? Not because they’ve treated you badly. They may have been nothing but nice. Helpful, even. But they _look_ at you a certain way and your skin just kinda… crawls?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Barry, who are you talking about?”

The younger man took a deep breath and blew it out heavily. “Dr. Wells,” he admitted, finally meeting Oliver’s eyes. “The man saved my life and has helped me be a hero and I just… I don’t know. It’s weird?”

“Does he make you feel unsafe?” Oliver asked urgently, needing to assess the situation and hating that he hadn’t paid more attention to the wheelchair-bound man while he was in Central City. Sure, he had given the man the same level of scrutiny that he gave the others at STAR Labs, but he wouldn’t given him _more_ if he had known Barry felt this way.

“No!” Barry was quick to protest but then he bit his lip uncertainly. “I mean, I don’t feel like he wants to _hurt_ me or anything. I’m not afraid that he’ll get violent or anything. Besides, the man’s in a wheelchair!”

“But you _are_ afraid,” he said, reading between the lines of what Barry said. “There are more ways for someone to hurt you than to get violent.”

Barry swallowed thickly, looking away once more. “I’m not afraid,” he said after a moment, though his voice still sounded a bit uncertain. “There’s nothing to be afraid _of_. He’s been nothing but helpful and warm and welcoming and… the man _saved my life_!”

“He was also the reason your life was in danger to begin with,” Oliver couldn’t help but point out, hating himself a little as Barry flinched at the words.

“I thought the lightning bolt _chose_ me?” he muttered with a scowl.

“And I fully believe that,” he insisted. “But that doesn’t mean that Wells didn’t put your life, and the lives of everyone in Central City, in danger that night.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Barry asked in confused frustration.

“It shows that Wells is willing to put his own desires before the welfare of innocent people,” Oliver said seriously. “Maybe that’s why he makes you uncomfortable. Because you’re so good, Barry,” he told him, voice full of sincerity. “I don’t think you’d ever put yourself before anyone. Hell, you came here today needing someone to talk to me and made me take a nap when you saw I was tired.”

The speedster rolled his eyes. “Try dead on your feet.”

Oliver gave him a small smile. “You’re not a selfish person.”

“And Dr. Wells is?” Barry shook his head. “He built the particle accelerator to _help_ people. He thought he was doing good. Besides _,_ no on else seems to think he’s so selfish. Besides, him being selfish wouldn’t make me afraid.”

“I thought you weren’t afraid?” he asked him lightly, raising a brow at him.

The younger man frowned and looked down. “Not a lot afraid,” he murmured. “Just a _little_. Which is stupid. I’m a superhero. I have _powers_. Why should I be afraid?”

“I don’t think you’d last very long as a superhero if you _didn’t_ get afraid every now and again,” Oliver commented with a rueful smile before frowning as he thought over what Barry was saying. “I don’t like that you’re afraid of the man who seems to be running your team.”

Barry snorted. “Well, I’m not thrilled with it either. I feel like he’s always watching me, even when I’m not at STAR Labs. Which is crazy, but it’s how I feel. That’s why I had to get away today. I just… needed to get away from Central City.”

“Well, you are _always_ welcome here,” Oliver told him.

“Yeah?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, a smile spreading over his face as well.

tbc…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Not sure I have a great grasp on Oliver's character yet, but I'm working on it!


	3. Chapter Two

“Don’t you have something better to do than hang out with me all day?” Barry asked after lunch, his treat despite Oliver’s protestations because he was technically the only one with money or a job. “Not that I’m complaining!” he added hastily. “Spending time with you has been awesome, but I don’t want to keep you from anything.”

Oliver shrugged casually as he dodged a businessman talking frantically on his phone and not paying attention as he walked. “Well, as you so politely pointed out earlier, I don’t have a job,” he said, a small smile playing at his lips. “And my other work is kinda held up until Felicity can track down our boomerang-wielding killer. Besides, I like spending time with you. I’ve got to be honest, though. It’s been pointed out to me that I really don’t know how to have fun like a normal person.”

“Well, thankfully, you are with one of the funnest people in the world,” Barry told him with a grin.

“Funnest is not a word,” the vigilante deadpanned.

“And this is why people say you aren’t fun,” he teased with a laugh. “Now you have choice. Mini-golf or bowling?”

“God save me,” Oliver said in a resigned tone. There was a mischievous glint in those blue eyes, though, that told Barry he was just joking.

They ended up playing mini-golf, a mistake on Barry’s part as he didn’t realize how well archery training translated to put-put golf. 

“You cheated!” he accused after their last hole. Oliver’s score was 2, while Barry scored a 27. He pouted as they turned in their putters.

“Yeah, I’m not the one that created wind currents with my superspeed to knock my opponent’s ball off course,” the blond retorted.

“I had to!” he protested with a pout. “Your score kept going down while mine went up!”

“It’s called skill, Barry,” Oliver stated with a smug smirk.

Barry rolled his eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head, Oliver. Remember, it’s just mini-golf.”

“I’m not the one pouting about losing,” he said.

“Not pouting,” he sulked before grinning. “Let’s get some food!”

“We ate like less than three hours ago!” Oliver said in disbelief.

“Yeah, but I’m hungry,” Barry whined, giving the vigilante a sheepish smile. “I… may have forgotten to pack some protein bars from home.”

“You mean the protein bars you need to keep your blood sugar from bottoming out?” the blond asked with a scowl.

“Maybe?”

It was a stupid thing to do. Especially after telling Oliver earlier that day about his super-hypoglycemic problem. But he hadn’t _planned_ on coming to Starling City when he woke. He just _did_. So he may not have taken the precautions he needed.

“It’s cool, though,” he said when Oliver’s scowl deepened. “I’ll just dart back home to get a few.”

“Don’t you dare!” Oliver growled, a bit of the Arrow seeping into his voice as he grabbed Barry’s forearm. “You are _not_ running 600 miles without eating, preferably eating _a lot_.”

Despite Oliver’s tone, Barry couldn’t help smiling at the other man’s protectiveness. “Fine, but we probably shouldn’t be anywhere public when I scarf down enough food to feed an army,” he commented lightly. “Will your sister mind if we hang out at her place?”

Oliver shrugged. “She’s probably say it was my place, too. But no, she won’t mind.”

“Great!” he said brightly. “Let’s go order about ten pizzas and binge watch Netflix.”

 

 

Watching Barry eat pizza was… something, to say the least.

He ate seven large pizzas in under half an hour, leaving Oliver watching him more closely than he was watching the show Barry had put on. Besides, he had watched the first couple of seasons of _The Office_ before the _Queen’s Gambit_. It was much more entertaining to watch Barry.

“It’s not polite to stare,” the speedster told him with a grin. Barry was always grinning. The brunet was always so cheerful and optimistic that Oliver swore it was like the man was made of sunshine. Even when Barry was serious, there was still that boundless hope shining in his green eyes.

That was what had made seeing him under Bivolo’s power so hard on the vigilante, and that was what clued Oliver in that something was wrong with him. It wasn’t the harsh words Barry flung at him. It was his _eyes_. Even without the red gleam, they were just _different_.

It was also one of the reasons that the conversation from earlier bothered him so much. Barry’s eyes took on such a helpless look when he talked about Dr. Wells. There was something almost broken behind Barry’s gaze.

Barry should never look like that. Barry deserved sunshine.

“You’re still staring,” the hero pointed out with a furrowed brow. “Something wrong.”

He shook his head. “Just… thinking about what you told me earlier,” he admitted, needing to broach the subject again even if Barry didn’t want to.

The speedster groaned. “No, we shouldn’t worry about that. Today is about having fun!”

Oliver sighed. “But you have to go back to Central City eventually. And I won’t be there to help you.”

“You mean protect me,” Barry said, giving him a soft smile. “And I appreciate it, Oliver, I do. But there’s nothing really to protect me from. It’s just me being weird. Maybe it’s the social awkward nerd in me rearing its ugly head again.”

“Don’t do that,” he told him seriously. “Don’t belittle yourself or your feelings. If you’re uncomfortable around Wells,” he said, carefully not using the word _afraid_ , “you shouldn’t brush off you feelings like they aren’t valid.”

“Sure…”

Barry’s response was far from reassuring to Oliver, but before he could comment further, the young hero’s phone was ringing.

“Hello?” the speedster answered, face growing serious as he listened to the other end. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up and smiled apologetically at Oliver. “Gotta go. There’s a new meta attacking.”

“Happy fighting,” he said before Barry blurred out the door. He frowned down at the three pizzas left behind. There was no way he could eat them all by himself. He shrugged and picked them up. He was sure he could get his team to help him out.

 

 

It was late by the time they finished up with the metahuman. She had been tricky. Her name was Rose Canton. She was apparently a botanist who had gained the ability to control plants from the particle accelerator explosion. It was hard to fight someone who could summon roots and vines to pin you down.

Barry had thankfully been able to surprise her with his speed, though, and she was now safely ensconced in the Pipeline.

He, Cisco, and Caitlin were about to head out when Dr. Wells stopped him. “Barry? Can I speak with you a moment?”

Barry _really_ wanted to say no, but that would look strange. “Sure,” he said. “You guys go on ahead,” he told Cisco and Caitlin. They nodded and smiled at him before wishing them both a good night. 

He nervously took a sip of his water bottle before leaning back against the computer console, jumping up, though, as he nearly upset out monitors with his fidgeting. 

“Barry, is something wrong?” Dr. Wells asked, concern written all over his face. His eyes didn’t match, though, in Barry’s opinion. There was a frightening glint to them that he didn’t like at all.

He was being ridiculous. His unease was making his eyes play tricks on him. And now it was making Dr. Well thing something was wrong!

“Nothing is wrong!” he insisted, sounding a little hysterical even to his own ears. He tried to take another gulp of water, frowning as the top of the bottle hit his cheek and he spilled water down his front instead. “Something’s wrong…” he said faintly as a wave of dizziness washed over him.

He had a few nanoseconds to panic before his world faded to black.

 

 

“Barry?” he heard Dr. Wells call, as if from far away.

He blinked his eyes opened and squinted as the bright lights of the Cortex blinded him. “What happened?” he asked as his eyes adjusted. His mouth felt oddly dry and his head was fuzzy.

“You passed out,” the doctor replied, frowning down at him. “Have you had enough to eat today?”

Barry dunked his head sheepishly as he realized that he should’ve fueled up more after running back from Starling City and before fighting Rose, or Thorn, as Cisco had taken to calling her.

He got up quickly from the floor, feeling shaky on his legs still. “I may have missed eating a couple of protein bars,” he admitted.

Dr. Wells gave him a disapproving look. “Barry, you have to be more careful. Your body is a gift, but you must take care of it.”

He nodded, feeling duly chastised. “I guess I’ve just been a bit busy lately.”

“Things will get easier, Barry,” the older man assured him. “Now why don’t you eat a protein bar before going home and getting some rest?”

Barry nodded, watching Dr. Wells turn and wheeling away after bidding him goodnight. He grabbed a protein bar and began munching it slowly. However, his shakiness didn’t go away as he finished the bar like it usually did when his blood sugar dipped too low.

He sped out of STAR Labs once he finished eating, not really wanting to spend another moment there.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something had happened that he had missed.

He checked his phone as soon as he got back to his apartment, smiling as he saw that he had a text from Oliver.

_How was the fight?_

_A little thorny_ , he texted back, grinning stupidly at his own pun. _But successful_.

Barry put the niggling feeling that he had missed something out of his mind as he lay down to sleep with a smile still on his lips.

Overall, it had been a good day.

tbc…

 


	4. Chapter Three

He was cold and there were hands touching him. He shivered. Something wasn’t right. Why couldn’t he move? The hands weren’t holding him down, and they weren’t hurting him, thankfully, but something was still wrong.

The hands ran lightly down his torso, tweaking his nipples as they traveled downwards. He shivered again once they reached the waistband of his pants. He struggled to open his eyes to see who was touching him so intimately, but his body, including his eyelids, was completely unresponsive. The hands were now tugging his pants and underwear down, going even _lower_ …

Barry jerked awake, gasping as if he had run… well, he really didn’t know far and how long he would have to run for his heart to be pumping this fast and for his breath to be this hard to catch.

He was pretty sure that was the weirdest sex dream he had ever had, and he was including that one time in high school where he was dressed as the team mascot and the lunch lady was there.

He lay back down and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. He was too jittery.

He glanced at the time on his phone and groaned. It wasn’t even 1 AM yet! Surely he’d be able to fall back to sleep.

By the time it was 1:30, though, and he had counted one thousand and twenty three sheep, he gave it up as hopeless. He was just too wired. Maybe it was because he had collapsed, _yet again_ , earlier that day at STAR Labs. 

He was just thankful that only Dr. Wells was there again. He was pretty that Caitlin and Cisco would’ve wanted to run a battery of tests to figure out why he was passing out again. He didn’t really want to confess that he had made three trips to Starling City in the past week. He’d really rather keep his trips to see Oliver and _relax_ to himself for the time being.

Still, whatever it was that had him so jittery, he was pretty sure that he wasn’t getting any more sleep that night.

He threw the covers off of him and went to the living room to watch some tv. That lasted about ten minutes before he realized he was way too restless to sit and watch crappy late night television. His fight or flight response was going crazy for some reason, and he felt like he was about to burst at the seams if he stayed still one more second.

He was tempted to dart to STAR Labs, grab his suit, and go hunt down whatever criminals were out on the streets of Central City that night. He knew it he did that, though, Joe would kill him. His foster father had been adamant that he avoid any police notice now that Eddie had gotten the okay to start his anti-Flash taskforce. He was pretty sure rounding up petty criminals counted as garner police notice.

Barry grinned, though, as an idea took hold.

Joe had only told him to avoid police notice _in Central City_. He never said anything about the police anywhere else. And if you thought about it, sightings of the Flash in another city might even lessen the heat that the CCPD put on him.

He probably should have put in a call to Oliver to make sure he wouldn’t be overstepping, but if he stayed in his apartment a second longer, he was going to go crazy. 

He packed a small gym bag with some civvies to change into just in case before running to STAR Labs.

Forty minutes later, he was punching in the access code to what Cisco had been referring all week to as the “Arrow Cave,” happy that Oliver had given him the code as he really didn’t fancy fighting crime with his bag on him.

He immediately noticed, though, that he wasn’t the only one having a late night.

“Barry!” Felicity said in a surprised voice. “What are you doing here?” Her surprise quickly morphed into panic. “Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Do you need Oliver’s help? Hold on, he’s in the field, let me call him back!”

He darted forward to stop her hands from doing whatever they were going to do, which was probably activating her comm and sending out a babbling of distress to Oliver. “Felicity, I’m fine,”he assured, not wanting her to worry Oliver needlessly. “I was just a bit restless and decided to come help clean up the streets of Starling tonight.”

She furrowed her brow. “What, is there not enough crime in Central City?”

Barry gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged. “More like there’s too much of an overprotective father in Central City who’s worried about a new taskforce CCPD has to take down the Flash.”

“Oh!” she said before making a disgusted noise. “Typical police idiocy. I mean, I can get why SCPD would be leery of Oliver at first what with the killing and all that, but you’ve done nothing but help people! Just because someone can’t understand something, it’s automatically wrong and must be stopped. I swear, people these days—”

“Felicity!” he cut off her rambling with a smile. “I appreciate your support, but I was just gonna stash my bag here before going in search for criminals to thwart. You don’t think Oliver would mind?”

Though he and Oliver had spent a good deal of time together this past week, they really hadn’t talked work during that time. Barry suspected that this was Oliver trying to give him some much needed normalcy in his life, for which is was grateful, but he also realized that it might also be that Oliver was a bit territorial of his city. Given the new closeness of their friendship, he really didn’t want to offend the vigilante by working his streets.

Felicity was obviously having similar misgivings. “Mind that you stash your bag here? No. Mind that you are patrolling Starling City? Probably,” she said finally, biting her lip as she glanced back at the computer console, no doubt thinking about the comm link that would connect her with Oliver. She sighed in defeat and looked back at him. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you went out and stopped the obvious, run-of-the-mill crimes that are no doubt happening.”

Barry grinned. “Great! Thanks! I need to do _something_.”

“Well, I don’t claim responsibility for anything!” she warned him, throwing her hands up in defeat.

He nodded jovially at her before dashing off to stop some crime.

 

 

“If this is an ARGUS thing, Lyla’s gonna want to keep it that way,” John warned as they stared at their boomerang victim’s face on the computer monitor.

“Then tell her to stop letting people get killed in my city,” Oliver told him before walking away to put away his bow. Maybe he was taking it too personally, but Starling City was under his protection. It was his first priority.

“You really don’t care about my marriage, do you?” Diggle asked with a shake of his head, giving him an amused look.

“Well, I would, if you and Lyla were still married,” he shot back, careful to keep his smile off his face. Judging by the smile on John’s face, he wasn’t fooled into thinking Oliver were serious. Though really, Diggle had known him long enough to know that he would never be so heartless as to not care.

Besides, if John was going to insist on not marrying the mother of his child and love of his life, well, Oliver fully reserved the right to give him as much hell of it as possible.

Before anyone could say anything else, though, a gust of wind blew threw the door before a red-clad figure appeared in Felicity’s desk chair, happily munching on a Big Belly Burger.

Oliver was unfazed by Barry’s sudden appearance, having grown accustomed to it over the past week. Felicity, though, cringed guiltily as she looked between him and the speedster. Diggle, though knowing about the younger man’s ability, still seemed minutely taken aback by his appearance.

Roy stared at the other man slack-jawed and dumbfounded, obviously thinking that Felicity had been exaggerating Barry’s speed.

“Oh, hey, guys!” Barry greeted with a grin. “I didn’t know you’d all be back or I would’ve gotten food for everyone. I can run back if you want?” he offered, pointing vaguely in the direction he came from with his thumb.

“No, thanks, Barry. What are you doing here?” Oliver asked, concern making his tone come off slightly brusque. While the young CSI’s trips to Starling City were frequent in the past week, he had never come in uniform. He didn’t know if he was more worried at the possibility that Barry was here because a meta was threatening Starling City or that Barry was in over his head fighting a meta in Central and had come seeking help.

“Don’t be mad at him!” Felicity said in a rush, stepping between the two of them as if to protect Barry from him, an almost ludicrous notion in Oliver’s mind. As if he’d ever hurt Barry. “I told him he could go after some petty criminals to blow off some steam. We all know that Starling is your city but he couldn’t do anything in Central City because of the taskforce after him and I didn’t figure you’d mind too awful much if someone took down the criminals that you and the police probably wouldn’t get to tonight so…”

“What happened to not taking responsibility?” Barry asked in amusement as she trailed off.

Felicity mock-glared at him. “For a superhero, you look way too much like a puppy that needs rescuing.”

Something about how the two of them were interacting rubbed him the wrong way, so he immediately inserted himself back into the conversation. “I’m not angry, I am concerned,” he explained. “You haven’t been coming here in your uniform until now,” he added, keeping a close eye on Felicity to see if Barry’s visits had been known to her.

To his satisfaction, she seemed shocked that Barry had been making trips to Starling City recently. Barry spoke up, though, before she could comment on his visits.

“I couldn’t sleep and felt the need to do something, and Joe wants me to lie low because of the taskforce,” he explained.

Oliver frowned. Barry had told him all about the taskforce that Detective Thawne had started. If you asked him, Thawne was just jealous that his girlfriend was fawning over the new superhero in town.

“Well, have you run off all your excess energy?” he asked with a quirk of his brow.

“Yep,” Barry said, taking a big bite of his burger while still managing to smile. “Sufficiently relaxed,” he told him with a smug smirk.

“Good. Finish your food and get changed,” he told him, turning and going to change himself, ignoring the baffled looks the rest of his team gave him.

When he got back from changing, only Barry and Felicity were still there, Barry in his regular clothing as he chatted with the blonde about some new tech that Ray Palmer was apparently coming out with.

Oliver did _not_ scowl at how close they were standing. “Barry, coming?” he called, schooling his face into a blank mask. That mask quickly melted, though, when the speedster beamed at him and followed him out.

They ended up back at Thea’s apartment. It was late, but he knew Thea wouldn’t be disturbed by the television if they kept the volume low enough. He settled onto the couch with a sigh, something warm curling in his stomach when Barry followed his lead without any further prompting.

“You not sleeping didn’t have anything to do with Wells, did it?” he couldn’t help asking in a low voice.

Barry shook his head and gave him a tired smile. “No,” he murmured back. “Just a weird dream that gave me an adrenalin rush.”

Oliver hummed, no stranger to dreams like that. Of course, most of his were based on memories of either the island or Hong Kong. He slung a casual arm over the back of the sofa behind Barry, surprised yet gratified when the younger man instantly leaned into him and rested his head on his shoulder.

Given Barry’s drooping eyelids, Oliver would guess that the speedster was too tired to even care who he was snuggling up to, a thought which didn’t particularly sit well with him.

Still, he settled his arm more firmly around Barry’s shoulders and held him in a semi-embrace. Barry sighed and closed his eyes.

“Thank you, Ollie,” he whispered sleepily.

“For what?”

“Keeping me safe,” Barry slurred the answer as he dropped into sleep.

Oliver frowned. Though he enjoyed Barry’s company, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something ominous kept driving him back to Starling City.

The question was, what was it and how was he supposed to protect Barry from getting hurt?

tbc…

 


	5. Chapter Four

Barry sighed as he slowly came awake, nuzzling the warm pillow beneath his face and feeling way too comfortable to get up. His pillow shifted underneath him as it breathed in deeply before exhaling slowly.

Wait.

Pillows didn’t breathe.

He snapped his head up in a panic but relaxed as he caught sight of Oliver’s sleeping face. Good. It wasn’t Wells who was holding him so closely

He frowned. Why the hell did his mind jump automatically to Dr. Wells?

Better question. Why did he think that being held so closely by _Oliver_ was so much better? He blushed before moving slowly to try to extract himself from the older man’s embrace before he woke up. He was sure that, to Oliver’s dreaming mind, the blond thought he was holding Felicity or some other past girlfriend.

The vigilante groaned in protest and tightened his grip, eyes blinking open to give Barry a sleepy smile. “Good morning,” he said, voice still rough from sleep.

Barry couldn’t help but smile back, staring up into those blue eyes, utterly transfixed. He didn’t want this moment to end, as weird as that might sound. He’d never felt this comfortable with someone. This at ease. And he was incredibly happy that Oliver hadn’t immediately pushed him out of his arms.

Halfway afraid to break the spell between them, he breathed out a “Morning,” in reply, green eyes still locked with blue.

“More like afternoon,” Thea’s voice chirped from behind them.

Barry still before looking up with dread pooling in his stomach to see Oliver’s baby sister smirking down at them from behind the couch. He had briefly met Thea the other day, as she was on her way out, but he didn’t want to imagine what her opinion was going to be of him now.

Not that it mattered what Oliver’s sister thought about him, of course, even if she was Oliver’s only living family. He and Oliver were just friends. You didn’t care what your friend’s family thought about you.

Of course, then what Thea had said sunk into his head.

“Afternoon?!?” he cried, jumping up faster than he knew was normal, but trying to still keep it slow for Thea’s sake. He dug his phone out from his bag where he had stashed it last night and cringed at the missed calls and texts he had, most of them from Joe but a couple from Cisco and Caitlin as well. He cried out in dismay as he saw the time. “I was supposed to be at work five hours ago!”

Thea snorted from behind him before she gave Oliver a disapproving look. “Considering you’re broke, you can’t really afford to make your partners losing their jobs now, can you?”

Barry wanted to stutter out a protest that he wasn’t Oliver’s _partner_ , but the blond spoke up before he could say anything.

“Barry’s not going to lose his job,” he replied easily. “They’d be stupid to let someone as good as him go. He is, though, going to call in sick and get some more sleep.” The last part he said more to Barry than Thea. “You haven’t been getting enough sleep lately.”

He thought that was a very rich accusation coming from a man Barry was sure probably slept an average of three hours a night. Still, he couldn’t deny that he was still tired. He had slept better last night than he had since he woke up from his coma, but a few solid hours of sleep wasn’t enough to make up for all the sleep he had missed.

Still, he really didn’t think he’d sleep as well as he had this morning without Oliver holding him, and _of course_ , because apparently had misplaced his already-faulty brain-to-mouth filter, the “Only if you sleep with me,” was out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop it.

His face heated up to supernova levels as he realized he had said that out loud. He snapped his head towards the two Queens to stammer out that he most certainly did _not_ mean it that way. Thea, though, was shooting the both of them a happy smile, and Oliver was already getting up and wrapping a hand around Barry’s forearm.

“Sure, but we’re gonna use the bed this time,” he said, a teasing smile on his lips.

“O-okay,” he managed to choke out before holding up his phone sheepishly. “I gotta call Joe first, though.”

He stumbled to his feet, keeping his speed normal making him a bit clumsier than usual, and went into the kitchen to make his call.

“Nice seeing you again, Barry!” Thea called after him.

“You too!” he called back, feeling like he a complete dork as he banged his fist lightly against his forehead as soon as he was out of sight. He quickly dialed Joe, not wanting to think about the siblings in the next room.

“Barry!” Joe answered after only one ring, worry evident in his voice. “Where are you? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Joe, I just overslept,” he assured him. 

“Five hours?!? And where are you? You’re not at your apartment because I checked there,” he told him.

“I… haven’t really been sleeping well lately,” he admitted. “And I’m in Starling City because I couldn’t sleep last night and I needed to do something and _you_ told me I couldn’t do anything in Central City because of Eddie’s taskforce.”

“So you’ve been hanging out with _him_ , hm? Is that where you’ve been disappearing to lately? Is that why you’re not sleeping well?” Joe asked, slipping into his interrogation voice. “Barry, what has that man got you mixed up in?”

He frowned in annoyance. He didn’t like that Joe was automatically blaming Oliver for everything. Oliver had been nothing but a good friend to him. He didn’t deserve accusations.

“He hasn’t gotten me mixed up in anything,” he snapped.

“Then what have you been doing in Starling so much?”

“Just… hanging out,” Barry said, feeling kind of lame saying it like that, especially when he had woken up in the other man’s arms earlier. Not that that meant anything. Not really. “It’s… nice… have a friend that doesn’t expect me to be anything but myself, you know?”

He hadn’t really thought about their friendship in those terms until just then, but he realized it was true. Everyone in his life in Central City expected something from him. They would support him no matter what, he knew, but they expected him to be something more than just him. 

They expected him to be the Flash.

And he loved being the Flash, don’t get him wrong.

But it was nice to be around someone who just wanted him to be _Barry_.

He could hear Joe’s heavy sigh over the phone. “Okay, Bear, I understand. Are you coming in for what’s left of your shift?”

“No, I think I’m gonna try and catch up on the sleep I’ve been missing,” he told him.

“Barry, you know if your… second job… gets too much, you can always dial it back, right? No one would blame you,” Joe said in concern.

That wasn’t true, Barry knew. _He_ would blame himself. He was given his speed for a reason, after all, and he was going to use it to help people.

Besides, it wasn’t being the Flash that was causing his restless nights.

“I’m fine, I promise,” he assured him. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay,” Joe said with another sigh. “Sleep well.”

“Ready for bed?” Oliver’s voice asked from behind him and he whirled around to see the vigilante leaning causally against the counter with a soft smile on his face. Barry had no clue how he had managed to sneak in without him noticing, but he hoped he didn’t have to hear him trying to assure Joe that Oliver wasn’t getting him “mixed up” in anything.

He flushed at the words. “I’m not going to make you sleep with me. I mean, get into bed with… Sleep _beside_ me,” he said emphatically as he finally settled on something that didn’t have some sort of double meaning.

Oliver approached him purposefully and rested his hands on Barry’s shoulders. “Barry,” he said seriously. “Did you sleep better with me with you last night?”

“More like this morning,” he muttered. “But yeah.”

“And you haven’t been sleeping well?” he continued.

Barry ducked his head sheepishly. “Yeah,” he admitted, not meeting Oliver’s eyes.

“Then I don’t think taking a nap together will hurt either one of us,” the blond stated firmly, one hand slipping down to Barry’s forearm as he led him towards the bedroom.

Barry kicked his shoes off after Oliver pushed him down onto the bed, letting out a soft sigh as his head hit the soft pillow. He smiled lazily at Oliver as he slipped into bed from the other side.

The blond turned on his side to look at Barry. “Okay?” he asked.

“Okay,” he breathed, fighting back a laugh as he realized they had just unintentionally quoted _The Fault in Our Stars_. He was a little disappointed that the other man didn’t sling his arm over him, but quickly quashed that feeling. That wasn’t something friends did, after all.

He let his eyes slip close, sleep finding him sooner than the last few months had made him think was possible.

 

 

The moment he had woken up with Barry in his arms and his only reaction was to smile, Oliver decided he had to be honest with himself.

He had feelings for Barry. Feelings he had never had for _anyone_ before now.

He didn’t know how he had let this happen. If you had asked him two weeks ago, he would have said he was still in love with Felicity. How had he gone from that to this is such a short amount of time?

But whatever he had felt for Felicity before, it didn’t compare to what he felt for Barry. Felicity was great, of course, and he _did_ love her, but no matter how much he appreciated her skills or how invaluable she was to his team, he knew he would never think of her as someone he could share everything with.

Barry was his equal. No, that wasn’t right because Barry was so much _better_ than him. But he was someone who understood him. Someone who could _relate_ to him. Someone Oliver could potentially share everything he was with.

And that scared him a little. Because he’d end up hurting Barry if he pursued these feelings. Not that it mattered, of course, because Barry was in love with Iris and wouldn’t reciprocate anyway, but if even if he did, Oliver couldn’t let this happen.

Barry was his friend and he needed Oliver to be there for him as a friend. Not to push his feelings onto him and end up breaking his heart.

Still, he couldn’t help moving closer to the sleeping speedster as the younger man whimpered slightly in his sleep and reached out to touch his shoulder. Barry immediately flinched from his touch, letting out a scared-sounding whine.

Oliver frowned, scooting closer and wrapping Barry in his arms before whispering soothingly in his ear, “It’s okay, Barry. It’s Oliver. I’m here.”

The other slowly relaxed in his arms and curled up tighter against him.

Oliver stared down at Barry’s face. He looked so much younger in his sleep. He couldn’t help the surge of protectiveness that welled within him.

He wished he could brush his newfound feelings for the other man off as protectiveness, but if he were honest, the first spark had struck when he had first met Barry, before he even became the Flash. Barry gaining his speed had really only given him an opportunity to get to know the man more.

He really should’ve realized he was in trouble last night. When he had saw Barry in his suit, his first thought had been for the other man’s safety. _Not_ for the safety of his city if Barry were hunting down a meta here.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand, breaking him out of his thoughts and making him look away from Barry’s face. He snatched it up quickly before the noise woke Barry up. It was a text from Felicity.

_Caitlin and Cisco here. Going to Verdant._

Oliver frowned at the message before looking back at Barry. He didn’t want to leave the younger man, but he definitely didn’t want to let Cisco loose in the foundry without keeping an eye on him. He still remembered the boomerang incident at STAR Labs.

He carefully slid away from Barry and off the bed, hating himself a little as the sleeping man made a noise of distress before burying his face in Oliver’s pillow.

He hunted down a pen and paper and left Barry a note to explain where he had gone.

He gave the sleeping speedster one last look as he crept out of the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

It might be a mistake to let himself feel more for Barry than friendship, but this didn’t change anything. He was going to protect Barry. Even if it was from himself.

tbc…

 


	6. Chapter Five

Barry ran in and settled in Felicity’s chair with his sushi, not really paying attention to who else was in the room until Caitlin admonished him.

“Hey,” she said, her tone a mix of incredulous and stern. “Secret identity!”

He looked up with an “Oops” expression as he noticed that Lyla was there. He really didn’t see a problem with it though. “They’re married!” he protested, pointing between her and Diggle.

“Not married,” they both protested at the same time.

“Or together, whatever. He told her about me…” he trailed off as John shook his head. “You didn’t?”

“I keep secrets for a living, man,” Diggle told him.

He was about to say something more when he noticed Oliver _glaring_ at him. He fought back a cringe. Felicity _had_ told him earlier that the Arrow didn’t play well with others and that it was probably a mistake that Caitlin had called him, but he thought he and Oliver were at a place where it would be okay.

“Barry, could I speak to you for a moment, please?” the blond vigilante asked in a tight voice.

The speedster gulped, but followed him to a quieter corner of the foundry. He wasn’t going to apologize for saving the other man’s life, no matter how pissed he was at him for interfering.

“I appreciate your help back at ARGUS,” Oliver told him in a low but diplomatic voice. “But we have this handled.”

“What, you don’t want to team up again?” he asked, definitely _not_ pouting. 

“Things are different here,” the blond explained. “Starling City is… meaner.”

“You didn’t seem to mind me helping out last night,” Barry pointed out.

“That was different!” Oliver hissed back. “Thugs and thieves aren’t going to put you under a microscope and try to figure out how to make you do things for them!”

With sudden clarity, Barry realized exactly why Oliver was so upset, why his glare had been so intense when Barry sped in earlier. “You’re worried about Lyla and ARGUS knowing who I am,” he whispered. The blond just gave him a significant look, which Barry rolled his eyes at. “From what you’ve told me about them, it was really only a matter of time until they figured it out anyway.”

“That’s not a reason to make it easy for them!” Oliver shot back before taking a calming breath. “I would really _prefer_ if your interactions with ARGUS were severely limited,” he said in an even tone.

“Okay,” Barry said in a placating voice. “But Lyla already knows about me now and you’re not planning on involving ARGUS in your investigation anyway so… no reason for me to hang back, right?”

Oliver pressed his lips together in a thin line before relenting and nodding. “Fine. But we do this my way.”

He grinned at him. “Awesome! This is gonna be great!”

 

 

Oliver began regretting letting Barry team up with him with that first look of horrified disbelief the speedster gave him as he shot an arrow into Markos. He hated himself at that look because he _deserved_ it. But he also _had_ to do this. Had to get the information on Harkness. 

It tore his heart to shreds to see the same horror on Barry’s face as Felicity’s face had had when she started helping him, but it made sense.

Like Felicity, Barry was _good_. Barry had a light that shone out like a beacon of hope for the world. Of course he would be horrified at Oliver’s darkness.

So when the younger man had called him a hero and told him that he had a light inside of him as well…

It had humbled him.

“Barry…” he said, taking a step closer to the speedster as the other leaned in closer. 

He was grateful that Felicity walked in when she did, because he had been about half a second away from kissing the younger man on impulse and ruining whatever there was between them.

There was no time to think about what could have happened, though. Not with Harkness to catch, and definitely not after Harkness told them about the bombs.

It was very tempting to kill the man, to _hurt_ him just because he could, especially knowing that chances were pretty high that Barry was going to be near one of those bombs if they exploded.

The smile Barry gave him when he turned around after the bombs _didn’t_ go off, though, was worth it.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was going to give Harkness a chance to throw one of his boomerangs at either of them, even knowing that Barry could stop it in a second.

“You just couldn’t resist, could you?” the Flash asked with a rueful shake of his head after he had put an arrow through Harkness’s hand. The smile on his face, though, told him that he still believed in Oliver’s humanity.

“You guys headed out?” Roy asked Team Flash much later after things had settled.

“It’s possible that Dr. Wells didn’t sign off on us leaving town…” Caitlin said sheepishly.

Oliver couldn’t hold back his frown at that, shooting a quick glance at Barry who had unconsciously stepped closer to him. He probably wouldn’t have commented if he hadn’t known about the speedster’s unease and his worry that his friends wouldn’t side with him.

“You always do what Wells tells you?” he asked with a quirk of his brow. Barry shot him a warning look, but no one thought the question was particularly odd coming from him.

There were perks to being known as the gruff and blunt vigilante.

“Well, he kinda pays our paychecks,” Cisco told him with a bark of a laugh. “Red vines ain’t free, man!”

He shook his head with smile on his face, disappointed at the answer as everyone else chuckled but not exactly surprised at the guileless grin that Cisco gave him. He was fairly certain if something _was_ up with Wells, Cisco wasn’t in on it and would stand by Barry if things went south.

Caitlin, he wasn’t so sure about. She had a little too much of a teacher’s pet vibe going on.

“Anyway, me and Oliver have some unfinished business to get to,” Barry was quick to say before anything else could be said about Wells. The blond thought this was a mistake, because if they _were_ going to discuss Wells, it’d be much safer to do it six hundred miles away. Just as a precaution. “I’ll catch up with you guys after I run home.”

Caitlin frowned at him. “Speaking of running, how did you get here so fast when I called you? Your top speed so far hasn’t gotten above 1000 miles per hour. It should’ve taken you at least half an hour to get here.”

“That’s the unfinished business we have to get to,” Oliver said smoothly as Barry tensed next to him. “I called him here to help me.”

Felicity and Roy shot him a look, but Caitlin seemed to buy it.

“Well, let us know when you get back,” she said as she pushed off the table she was leaning on and walked towards the door before looking back at her colleague in exasperation. “Come _on_ , Cisco, we’ve got a train to catch.”

Cisco was giving the two of them a searching look but shrugged and went to follow Caitlin. He paused, though, and glanced back at Barry. “Let me know if you need anything,” he said, uncharacteristically serious. “I got your back.”

Barry nodded his thanks. Once they were sure that the “team” part of Team Flash was gone, Felicity rounded on him with a suspicious look.

“Okay, what’s going on? You didn’t even know Barry was coming last night, let alone call him for help,” she stated, pointing a finger at him in accusation.

“Nothing that concerns you,” he told her in a clipped tone. He’d feel bad about the hurt that immediately flooded her eyes if he wasn’t trying to protect Barry’s secrets.

“Don’t take it personally,” Barry was quick to jump in, giving Felicity an apologetic look. “Oliver’s just trying to spare me some embarrassment with my team. But we do need to talk so I’ll see you guys later.”

 

 

“That was a little rude,” Barry commented as Oliver met him at the door to Thea’s apartment. And it was, but a small part of Barry couldn’t help but feel pleased when Oliver had snapped at Felicity for his sake. That probably made him a bit of a bad person, but he would try to make it up to her later.

Oliver shrugged as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. “Pretty sure my team has stopped expecting politeness from me.”

“Then you should surprise them,” Barry told him with mock-sternness. “But thank you, for covering for me with Caitlin.”

“You think she won’t take your side if Wells is up to something,” the blond said with a frown.

“Not exactly,” he replied with a sigh, falling back on the couch. “More like she’d need incontrovertible proof that he was up to something before believing it. She’s loyal like that.”

Oliver scowled as he crossed his arms and leaned against the back of the couch. “She should be loyal to _you_.”

“Well, to be fair, Wells did earn her loyalty first,” he pointed out. “And I don’t really think that Wells is up to something, per se. He’s just… creepy?” Creepy was a good word for Wells, though he hadn’t settled on it until just now.

“You were right,” Oliver said suddenly.

Barry looked up at him with a questioning smile. “Something tells me you don’t say that often.”

“I _don’t_ ,” he said with roll of his eyes as he smoothly swung his legs over the back of the couch before landing on the cushion beside Barry.

“Show off,” he muttered with a grin and a shake of his head.

Oliver ignored that. “But you _were_ right. We are supposed to be better. Lyla and I were talking earlier. She said it was naive to expect people who dealt in extremes to be stopped by anything less.”

Barry couldn’t help but frown at that, feeling like the words were directed at him. He didn’t think it was naive to think he could stop bad guys without becoming a bad guy himself. “I bet you were quick to agree with her,” he muttered bitterly. He was sure that, after he had freaked out about Oliver’s methods, the older man probably thought he was a naive idiot as well.

“I was,” the blond agreed with a furrowed brow as he stared off into the distance. “But that’s the thing,” he told him, giving Barry a wry smile. “Lyla is ARGUS. That’s ARGUS’s line. That’s the bullshit ARGUS fed me when they were trying to mold me into their weapon. That’s what I didn’t want to be, and I managed to turn out that way anyway.”

“That’s not true!” he argued hotly, not liking the self-hatred in Oliver’s voice _at all_. “Oliver, you are so much more than that! Do you think that you’d have so many people, _friends_ , supporting you if you weren’t? You aren’t like the people at ARGUS. You’d never put a bomb in someone’s head in case you needed to get rid of them in a hurry!”

It had horrified Barry to learn that people _did_ that. People who called themselves the _good_ guys. Sure, they might save some lives, but how many had they taken in the process?

Oliver shook his head. “Maybe not. Maybe my problem is that I can’t be the shining person that you are, but I don’t have the guts to be like ARGUS.”

“Yeah, I don’t buy that either,” Barry insisted, folding his arms and deliberately leaning against the blond. “If you didn’t shine so bright, you wouldn’t be trying to do good now. You’ll never convince me otherwise.”

The vigilante snorted. “The only reason I didn’t shoot Harkness tonight is because I knew you’d be disappointed,” he admitted. “You’re making me a better man, Barry Allen.”

Barry looked up at him with a soft smile. “You don’t have to be a better man, Oliver. Not for me. You’re good just as you are.”

“Maybe I want to be better,” Oliver murmured before doing something Barry had never in a million years imagined he’d do.

He was kissing him.

Without any hesitation, Barry melted into the kiss, moaning as Oliver’s tongue traced the seam of his lips before gently pressing inside.

This was perfection, Barry knew without a doubt. Like the lightning bolt that had given him his speed, it had come out of nowhere, but Barry knew from the bottom of his soul that this was right. This was where he was meant to be.

This was home.

Oliver pulled away but Barry didn’t let him go too far, fisting his hands in the other’s shirt to keep him close.

“Don’t you dare try and push me away,” he whispered, knowing from Felicity that Oliver tended to push away people he cared for to keep them safe. He was not going to let the same thing happen to him.

Why should they both be miserable when they could be happy?

“This is probably a bad idea,” the blond warned, blue eyes torn. “Our lives… _my_ life… is so dangerous. With ARGUS and the League out there, I can’t let you get mixed up in any of that.”

Barry pursed his lips. “We can talk about whether or not I should get mixed up in any of that if it ever comes to that,” he told him. “But all I want to do right now is get mixed up with _you_. And yeah, your life is dangerous, but mine is too! Isn’t that all the more reason to be happy with each other while we can and be there to protect each other if possible?”

He could see the resolve in those blue eyes breaking.

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Barry,” Oliver said in a pleading tone.

He gave him a sad smile. “I’ve kinda already been hurt. And I’m pretty sure you know that as you’ve already stuck a few arrows and knives in me,” he teased before turning more serious. “I don’t want you to get hurt, either, Ollie, but I know it’s going to happen. Just like you know I’m going to be hurt every once and a while. That’s kinda what we signed up for with the whole superhero thing.”

Oliver shook his head. “You’re a superhero. I’m just a reformed killer in leather.”

“No,” he said firmly. “You’re so much more. But you don’t have to believe it now. I’ll believe it enough for the both of us.”

“You sure you want to do this?” Oliver asked, an uncertain look in his eyes. “You know who I am, Barry. You’ve seen the bad that I’ve done. You’ve seen how questionable my methods are sometimes.”

“I’ve also seen the good that you’ve done. And I know you question your methods more than anyone else ever could,” Barry pointed out. “I want to try this. Me and you.”

“Okay,” the blond breathed, a small smile flitting over his lips.

Barry beamed. “Good,” he said before surging forward for another kiss.

He could _definitely_ get used to this.

 

 

He frowned at the image in front of him. He hadn’t noticed the small change before. It had never been something he had looked at too closely. The headline had always remained the same so he hadn’t thought anything of it.

How often did people look at bylines, after all?

But instead of Iris West-Allen, it read Iris West- _Thawne_.

“Gideon, search for wedding announcements mentioning Barry Allen,” Eobard commanded. In less than a second, the A.I. had another newspaper pulled up. It wasn’t on the front page of the entire paper, but it had made the front page of the society section.

_Billionaire Oliver Queen to Marry CCPD Forensics Director_

Underneath the headline was a picture of Barry with the billionaire, eyes only on each other and sharing a secret laugh at some random black tie event.

Eobard did not expect the spike of jealous that shot through him.

How dare Queen touch what was _his_?

tbc…

 


	7. Chapter Six

Oliver looked down at the man sleeping in his arms with mixed feelings.

Barry had spent the night. They hadn’t gone any further than making out, but the younger man had stayed late enough that it didn’t make sense for him to run back to Central City, regardless of how short a run it was for him. Besides, he had a feeling that he had a better night’s sleep here.

He liked the feel of Barry in his arms. Liked the feel of the younger man’s lips moving against his. Liked that the speedster felt safe with him. _Trusted_ him.

He still thought this was a bad idea. He didn’t think he could bear it if he ended up hurting Barry. Enough people had been hurt because of him. He couldn’t let Barry be hurt too.

But he hadn’t been able to help himself.

When Barry had looked him in the eye and told him that he was enough for him. That he was good enough. That he didn’t have to try to be better.

No one had ever said that to him before. Not that he could remember, at least. Not with that amount of sincerity.

He really hadn’t been able to resist kissing him.

After that, there had been no backing out. Not when Barry was gazing at him with such a soft look in his eye. Not when the thought of disappointing the man in front of him ripped his heart in two.

Despite how terrified he was of hurting the younger man, as long as Barry wanted him, he’d have him. 

“Mmmm,” Barry stirred sleepily in his arms before cracking open his eyes and smiling up at him lazily. “Are you brooding again?”

Oliver couldn’t stop the soft smile that spread over his face if he wanted to. “Only a little,” he answered, worries dissipating at the sight of those green eyes. It was hard to second-guess their fledgling relationship with Barry beaming up at him as if he were Christmas morning incarnate.

“Well, stop that and kiss me,” he demanded impishly.

He shook his head with a chuckle but lowered his head so that their lips were less than an inch apart. “Are you always this bossy in bed?” he asked. smirking as Barry shivered in his arms.

“I, uh, I don’t know?” the brunet stammered, biting his lip nervously, ducking his head and not meeting Oliver’s eyes.

“Barry? Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked in concern, bringing a hand up to cup his face. He frowned, brushing a thumb against Barry’s cheekbone in hopes of reassuring him. 

“It’s just… I don’t… have much experience…” Barry admitted, flushing bright red.

“With men?”

“In general?” he said, hesitancy making the statement sound like a question. “I mean, I’m not a virgin or anything,” he rushed to explain. “I’ve had sex before! Not a lot. I mean, it was just once in high school with this girl I was dating who ended up dumping me but… I sound like a loser, don’t I?” He groaned. “Excuse while I curl up and die…”

“Hey, no!” Oliver said quickly, as his mind caught up with the stream of words that had come out of Barry’s mouth. He stopped the speedster from hiding his face in the blankets and pillows. “There’s nothing wrong with not having much experience!” he assured before smirking down at Barry’s hopeful eyes. “Besides, I kinda like the idea that I’m the only one who gets to know you so intimately.”

Barry snorted, still red in the face but giving him a mischievous look. “You and Becky Cooper.”

He scoffed as he moved his lips over Barry’s jaw teasingly. “Like a teenage girl’s awkward fumblings could compare to what I’m going to do to you,” he told him, lingering just under his ear to worry the skin there gently with his lips, adding a couple playful nips with his teeth just to feel Barry shudder beneath him.

“A-and w-what are you g-going to do to me?” Barry asked breathlessly, hands coming up to grip the back of Oliver’s shirt desperately.

Oliver pulled back to gaze down at the younger man panting beneath him with dilated pupils. God, he looked so good like this. He paused and plastered a thoughtful look on his face before smiling down at Barry and leaning in close once more.

“I’m going to take things slow with you,” he murmured over the speedster’s lips. “I’m going to treat you like you deserve to be treated and make sure you’re comfortable. And then I’m going to make you mine.”

Barry rolled his eyes even as he shivered at the words. “I should’ve known you’d be the possessive type,” he said with a shake of his head. “But I hope you aren’t planning on going too slow. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I tend to like things fast.”

Oliver chuckled, leaning up to rake his eyes over the lithe body under him. “Pretty sure you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Good to know,” he said with a grin before he was kissing Oliver hungrily, tongue darting out and into the vigilante’s mouth as his body pressed up against the blond’s.

Yes, Oliver was fairly certain that slow with Barry would never really be slow by anyone else’s measure.

 

 

Barry made a conscious effort to dim his grin. It probably wasn’t appropriate to be cheesing like he won the lottery while he was processing a murder scene. He _really_ couldn’t help it though because he felt a little bit like he won the lottery.

He was hard-pressed to tear himself away from Oliver’s kisses and run back home for work, but he was pretty sure Joe would ask far too many questions if he had to cover for him again.

And while his foster father had grudgingly accepted the Arrow’s help when Barry had been hit with Bivolo’s power, Barry was fairly certain he wouldn’t approve of the budding relationship between them.

“You might want to cool it with the maniacal grin as you look at the body,” Joe’s voice interrupted his musings. “What’s got you so happy?”

He shrugged, smile not quite as bright but still present. “I’m just in a good mood.”

Waking up in the arms of your new… boyfriend? Was that the right word? Oliver didn’t really seem like someone who’d be called “boyfriend.” And their relationship was probably way too new to put that kind of label on it.

But to hell with it, he decided, smile back in full force. He had admitted to practically being a virgin, and the man had reacted by promising to go slow. Not that he particularly _wanted_ to take things slow, but it liked that the other man hadn’t been turned off at the idea of being with such an inexperienced nerd.

It really wasn’t his fault. In high school, Becky had really been the only girl willing to overlook the fact that his father was in prison for murder. Well, it probably wasn’t so much that his father was a convicted murderer but that Barry staunchly defended him. It would have been a lot easier on him if he had kept his mouth shut about it, but he really couldn’t help himself from standing up for his dad.

In college, he had really stopped trying. Besides, he had fancied himself in love with Iris at that point so it didn’t matter.

“Barry!” Joe’s voice cut through his thoughts again. The older man frowned at him. “What’s with you today?”

He shook his head. “Nothing!” he said quickly, too quickly if Joe’s raised brow was any indication.

He was grateful when Eddie came over and he had the excuse of running through what he had learned so far from the scene to avoid answering any more of Joe’s questions. 

And if he still did it with a bright smile on his face, well, who could blame him?

He ran to STAR Labs later that afternoon after he got off of work, surprised when he saw that only Cisco was there.

“Where are Dr. Wells and Caitlin?” he asked, though he was secretly glad that Wells wasn’t there.

“Caitlin went for coffee. Dr. Wells is around somewhere,” Cisco told him before giving him a considering look. “Can I ask you something?” 

“Sure,” he said easily with a smile, leaning against the console.

“Is something going on? Because in Starling City, in kinda seemed like something was going on,” he commented. “You know you can talk to me, right? I can keep secrets. I’m like a steel trap.”

Barry bit his lip. He would really love to know what someone who had known Wells longer thought about him. Maybe being kinda creepy was just part of the older man’s personality. It probably wasn’t something Barry should take personally.

“Well, I’ve kinda been hanging out in Starling City a bit more lately—” he began before Cisco cut him off with a smug grin.

“I knew it!” he cried triumphantly. “You and the Arrow are getting more than friendly, if you know what I mean,” he said with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

“What! No!” he protested. “I mean, yes, we are, but that’s new and all, not why I’ve been going to Starling…”

“But you admit that you and Oliver are _you and Oliver_ ,” Cisco clarified, an excited gleam in his eyes.

Barry couldn’t help grinning back at him. “Yeah,” he replied shyly, but needing to confide in someone about it. “It’s new, though. We just kinda decided to get together last night. Well, _he_ decided to kiss me and I responded enthusiastically.”

“Damn, skip the messy talking part. That must be an appealing aspect of being with another dude,” he commented with a smirk.

“We talked too,” he retorted with a roll of his eyes. “And we didn’t, know you…”

Cisco cringed. “Probably a good thing. You need to prepare yourself to be a little… early… if you know what I mean?” He could feel his face heating up in mortification. “Caitlin could probably explain your biology better but you’re gonna have to think about lots of dead puppies and nuns and stuff.”

He groaned and dropped his face in his hands. It was bad enough that he was so inexperienced. Now he was doomed to come like a teenage virgin no matter how much sex he had. Great.

“What about dead puppies and nuns?” Caitlin asked, walking in with a coffee carrier in hand.

“We were talking about Barry’s hypothetical sex life,” Cisco answered, smirking at Barry.

“Which we can really stop doing!” he insisted with wide eyes.

“No, I’ve actually been meaning to warn you about that for a while now, Barry,” Caitlin told him as he handed him a cup of coffee. He didn’t ask how she knew he’d be here. “Have you attempted to engage in intercourse since you woke up from your coma?”

“I really haven’t and I’m really okay with not talking about this,” he tried to tell her but she just shot him a look.

“Barry, this is something we _have_ to talk about. Sexual expression is an important part of anyone’s life and you will need to one day be able to engage in sexual activity. Unless…” she bit her lip and looked at him uncertainly. “You’re not asexual, are you?”

“No!” he protested, shooting Cisco a pleading look but the other man just threw his hands up and shook his head.

“Well, then you _will_ need to think about this when you find the right girl—”

“I’m actually seeing a guy,” he interrupted her, instantly wanting to hit himself in the face for saying anything. Why did his stupid brain decide to blurt that out? Sure, he had wanted her to stop talking about his sex life, but he really didn’t think that was going to achieve that result.

“Oh,” Caitlin said, giving him a wide-eyed look before looking thoughtful. “Actually, that might be better for you. I mean, your partner may eventually need to know about your speed, but if it’s a man, you won’t have to worry about holding out as long for your partner’s satisfaction.” Her eyes lit up as she continued. “And since your refractory period will be so short, you’ll be able to have multiple orgasms!”

“Okay, no, we are not talking about orgasms!” Barry exclaimed, unable to bear this conversation any longer.

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with Barry on this one,” Cisco concurred. 

Caitlin pouted at them. “I was just trying to be _helpful_ ,” she said with a pout before taking a drink of her coffee.

“And I appreciate it,” Barry told her with a laugh. “But let’s just see how things go before we start discussing multiple orgasms…”

 

 

Eobard frowned as he watched the three in the Cortex on the viewing screen. The thought of Oliver Queen enjoying Barry’s body, of cataloguing every muscle and mapping out every freckle on that creamy skin…

It was sickening.

Something had to be done about it. But what?

He couldn’t go after Queen directly. He knew that the Green Arrow had, along with the Flash, been one of the founding members of the Justice League, and he didn’t know if the man had made contact with any of the other members.

Queen had traveled more than Barry had. Who’s to say he hadn’t already become friends with, say Superman? Or Batman?

Eobard didn’t fancy tangling with any other League members than he had to. They could be quite annoying when they worked together.

So the question remained: how was he supposed to put a stop to this?

tbc…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my universe, Green Arrow is a founding member of the Justice League instead of Aquaman. Because, to quote Rajesh Koothrappali, Aquaman suuuucks! (My apologies to Aquaman fans, haha)


	8. Chapter Seven

Oliver walked into STAR Labs from his rental with purpose. Sure, he was primarily here to surprise Barry, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t scope out Wells while he was at it.

Because while he enjoying Barry spending so much of his free time in Starling City, he really didn’t like the fact that he was partly doing it to get away from Central City and the omnipotent presence of Harrison Wells.

He got to the entrance of the Cortex and leaned silenced against the wall as he listened to Barry and Cisco banter back and forth about something called “Cylons.”

He loved his boyfriend, but he was such a dork sometimes.

“You guys realize that there’s no such thing as aliens, right?” Caitlin asked, glancing up from a microscope to roll her eyes at them. As she did, though, she caught sight of Oliver. “Oh.”

The two men turned quickly, Barry more so than Cisco, and the speedster’s face lit up.

“Oliver!” he cried. “What are you doing here?”

“What? I can’t surprise my boyfriend with a weekend visit?” the blond asked innocently, walking up to Barry and putting his arms around his slim waist. He gave the brunet a chaste kiss before glancing around the room casually. “Where’s Dr. Wells?”

Barry gave him a look that told him that he wasn't fooling him. Before he could answer, though, the man in question interrupted them by rolling in from the other room.

“Mr. Queen, to what do we owe this visit?” Wells asked, cultured voice grating on Oliver’s nerves. “I hope you won’t be bringing your vigilantism with you during your stay.”

“He’s here socially,” Barry was quick to assure him. 

Oliver frowned, noting that Wells didn’t seem to be clued in to their relationship. Everyone in Starling knew about it. Was Barry not sharing it with the people in Central City? He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that.

“Did I just out us to Cisco and Caitlin?” he asked in concern as they headed out of STAR Labs.

Barry shook his head. “No, I told Cisco right after it happened, and then Caitlin a little bit after that. I just don’t really want Dr. Wells to know yet.”

“Why?”

The younger man shrugged. “I don’t know. I just feels like he’s involved in _everything_ else in my life. I don’t want him involved in us.”

Oliver smirked and stopped them before they walked out into the parking garage, crowding Barry against the wall and pressing close to him.

“Me either,” he murmured into Barry’s ear, nipping at it lightly. “I don’t want anyone _involved_ ,” he punctuated the word by pressing a thigh between the speedster’s legs, “in us. You’re all mine.”

Barry groaned, turning his head quicker than Oliver could process and capturing the vigilante’s mouth with his own. The blond didn’t need any further prompting, though, to plunge his tongue into the speedster’s mouth and explore to his heart’s content, deliberately slowing the kiss until it was a smooth, deep slide of tongues.

“Oliver,” Barry gasped as they broke apart panting. He looked at him with lust-blown eyes. The younger man smirked up at him mischievously before wrapping his arms tightly around Oliver’s middle.

Before he knew what was happening, there was an odd pulling sensation as he was hoisted off of his feet followed by a _whoosh_ of air around him and suddenly, they were in Barry’s bedroom. Which was also his living room/kitchen/dining area because Barry lived in a studio apartment, apparently. Oliver had not known that until now.

“I think,” Barry said thoughtfully, “that three weeks is taking things slow enough.”

Oliver frowned at that. While he _really_ wanted to agree and take Barry right then and there, the younger man was practically a virgin. Sure, he had technically had sex with some random teenage girl in high school, but from how he put it, it had seemed like it had only happened once.

How someone as adorable as Barry got through college without having girls and boys both throw themselves at him, Oliver didn’t know. But he was very glad that no one had permanently managed to steal the other man’s heart before he had got his chance.

“Barry…” he said, leaning forward to brush a kiss over his lips. “It’s a little soon, isn’t it?”

The brunet glared at him. “Would you say that if I had more experience?”

Oliver recognized that for the trap that it was. If he said no, Barry would be mad that he was treating him like some blushing virgin. But if he said yes, Barry would be mad at him for lying.

“Barry,” he said instead, bringing his hands up to rest them on the younger man’s shoulders. “I just want to do this right. Make it special for you.”

“It _will_ be special,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “It’ll be with someone I lo—” Barry cut himself off as his eyes went wide with panic.

Oliver really couldn’t resist teasing him. “Someone you what?”

Barry flushed and looked away. “Nothing,” he said quickly.

“I don’t think you were going to say nothing,” the blond needled with a smug grin. “I _think_ you were going to say someone you loved.”

“I was not!” the speedster protested frantically. “Because it’s way too soon to say something like that.”

The vigilante shrugged casually before looping his arms lightly around Barry’s waist and pulling him closer. “Maybe,” he agreed lightly. “Doesn’t change the fact that I love you too, though.”

He had made peace with his feelings for Barry during the past few weeks they had been together. He knew that normally, three weeks of dating was nowhere near long enough for the L word to come up, but he was pretty sure they weren’t really what you’d call a normal couple. Besides, Oliver had never been the type of man to do things by half.

Barry’s eyes snapped to his in disbelief before a bright smile spread across his face. “Really?” he asked, a hopeful light in his eyes. Oliver nodded and somehow Barry’s smile grew _bigger_. “I love you too,” he said shyly.

“Kinda already figured that,” he quipped with a smirk.

The younger man shoved his shoulder lightly before he was rushing forward faster than he could blink, and he was suddenly on his back on the bed with Barry hovering over his with a grin.

“Got you.”

Oliver couldn’t fight the smile on his own face. He was fairly certain he had smiled more in the past few weeks than he had since had gotten shipwrecked on Lian Yu. He reached his hands up to grip Barry’s waist tightly before flipping them over and pressing the younger man into the mattress.

“Now I got you,” he shot back.

“Well, what are you gonna do with me?” he asked mischievously.

“I can think of a few things,” he replied, sliding his hands beneath Barry’s button-up, surprised when the younger man _vibrated_ beneath him briefly. He rolled with it though, smirking as he leaned down and pressed a line of kisses down Barry’s neck. 

“ _Oliver_ ,” Barry gasped, vibrating once more. “Shit, sorry, I can’t…”

“Shhh,” the blond said, rubbing the other’s stomach soothingly. “Just relax. I’ve got you. I’m gonna take care of you.”

Barry’s vibrations died down as he took deep gulping breaths. He stiffened, though, as Oliver began unbuttoning his shirt, laving the newly uncovered skin with kisses.

“Is th-this a bad time to tell you that I—ah!” Barry cried out as Oliver’s lips wrapped around his nipple. The blond felt no small amount of satisfaction at the sound. Barry’s responsiveness was making his own jeans uncomfortably tight.

“I’m sorry. You were saying?” he teased, pulling back and bringing a thumb up to brush against the pebbled nipple.

The speedster groaned before huffing a laugh. “You’re terrible,” he told him breathlessly.

“I think you’re mispronouncing amazing,” Oliver replied, bending down and kissing a trail down Barry’s torso, the skin under his lips beginning to vibrate once more.

“This is gonna be over fast,” Barry warned him. He inhaled sharply a second later as Oliver popped open the button of his jeans. “Oliver…”

“Don’t worry,” he murmured, moving up and kissing Barry’s lips, cupping his flushed cheek in his hand. “And don’t be embarrassed. Your body has gone through some incredible changes, and I’m going to make you feel incredible,” he promised. “Just feel, okay?”

“Oliver…” Barry tried to start again but he kissed him to cut him off.

He pulled away with a grin. “You started this, remember?”

“I think I might regret that,” Barry laughed, moaning as Oliver moved down again and pulling down his zipper.

“I promise you won’t,” he said, tugging down Barry’s boxers and letting his arousal spring free. He considered it for a moment, smirking at the amount of pre-cum dripping from the tip.

“Oh God,” Barry groaned, head falling back when Oliver leaned forward and taking the tip into his mouth.

He swirled his tongue around the head, lapping up the pre-cum before sliding down further. He barely had a chance to bob his head up twice before Barry screamed and burst in his mouth.

Oliver pulled off and swallowed before smirking down at the absolutely _wrecked_ expression on the younger man’s face. He crawled up to lie at Barry’s side, bringing a hand up to card his fingers through dark hair.

“You okay?” he asked, slightly concerned as Barry’s blank stare continued.

The younger man flopped his head over to look at him and smiled dazedly. “Yeah, great,” he breathed, leaning forward to kiss Oliver deeply.

The blond inhaled sharply as Barry had his pants open in a flash and snuck a hand in his boxers to wrap it around Oliver’s straining erection. He groaned and let his head fall forward to rest on Barry’s shoulder as the younger man started moving his hand, thumb brushing over the head with every other stroke.

And though it may have taken longer for him to grunt out his release than it had Barry, he still came far quicker than he would have if he hadn’t been so turned on by getting the brunet off.

Barry grinned triumphantly at him before leaning in and kissing him lazily. He sighed happily andcurled up against Oliver in contentment.

“Love you,” Barry mumbled sleepily.

Oliver smiled as he watched the speedster’s eyes slipped shut. He dropped a kiss to his dark head and let his eyes close too.

He might as well get a nap in as well. It wasn’t like he had anywhere else to be.

 

 

A knock on his apartment door roused Barry a little while later. Of course, before he could even sit up, Oliver’s arm was pressing him back down on the bed protectively as his body was angled towards the door to assess the perceived threat.

Barry rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. He knew it was hard-wired in Oliver to protect those he cared about. Nothing Barry could say or do would change that. Besides, Oliver’s caring nature was one of the things Barry loved most about the other man. Why would he pick a stupid fight over an instinct of Oliver’s that sprang directly from that nature?

“It’s probably just Joe or Iris,” he told him even as the blond got out of bed and prowled towards the door with a deadly kind of grace.

“Barry?” Joe’s voice called through the door followed by another knock, proving the speedster right. “You in there? Your phone’s off, son!”

Barry shot Oliver a smug smile before he froze as horror welled within him. The older man frowned at him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

“It’s _Joe_ ,” Barry hissed back, jumping off the bed and darting to the door to peek out the peephole. Sure enough, his foster father was standing there with a deep frown on his face.

Though he had told Cisco and Caitlin about him and Oliver, he had stressed to them the importance of keeping it from Joe.

Because Joe did not approve of Oliver. Not the image he projected in the daylight, not the hood he wore at night. There’s no way he would approve of the vigilante dating his foster son.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at him before darting his eyes to the fire escape. “You want me to sneak out?”

That broke Barry out of his panic. “No,” he said firmly. “I’m a grown man, and this is my own apartment. I’m not going to let Joe scare the man I love away from my own apartment.”

Oliver pulled Barry away from the door and kissed him softly. “No one’s scaring me away, Barry. I promise.”

He smiled up at him in gratitude. “Thank you,” he said sincerely before glancing down and back up again. “Maybe you should at least button your pants before I open the door though?”

 

 

Eobard had not thought he would do something so undignified as growl in frustration, but that's what he had done as he watched the scene unfold in front of his eyes.

It was one thing to _know_ Oliver Queen had unfettered access to Barry’s body, it was quite another to see Barry give up control to the blond _enthusiastically_.

Their confessions of love had made his lip curl up in disgust. That was always the problem with the pesky do-good heroes of the world. They made way too much out of _love_.

Love was pathetic. Love was weak.

Although, in this case, he may be able to use love to his advantage.

He knew there was no way he’d scare Queen away from Barry. Even if he hadn’t made his pitiful promise to the speedster, it’d be difficult. 

He couldn’t threaten Barry. That would only made the future Green Arrow stick closer to the younger man.

And if he went after any of the man’s friends or family in Starling City as the Reverse-Flash, well, it would tip his hand. He wasn’t sure how many people knew that Oliver Queen was the Arrow, but he was betting that it wasn’t many. Cross-reference those names with the names of people who had dealings with the Flash, and that was a very short list.

No, whatever he did couldn’t be done as Harrison Wells or let on that he knew anything about the Arrow or Oliver Queen.

A slow smile began spreading across Eobard’s face.

It was a simple plan, but it could be effective if Barry reacted the way he wanted him to. It wasn’t foolproof because not even he, who knew Barry better than he knew himself, could know how he would react to something like this.

But it wouldn’t hurt his plans any. Barry wouldn’t know who he was, and he had already planned for the other speedster to figure out he was in town.

And he could not lie that a small part of him could not _wait_ to see Barry’s green eyes fill with fear and helplessness as he realized what was happening.

tbc…

 


	9. Chapter Eight

Oliver Queen was not someone that was brought home to meet the parents. If he was completely honest, the only parent he had ever really met was Quentin Lance, and that had really gone over well, hadn’t it?

So he stood there in his sleep-rumpled clothing, _extremely_ aware of the dried cum on the inside of his boxers, as Barry let his foster father.

He knew that Joe didn’t like him. Didn’t _approve_ of him, even as Barry’s friend. And while he had promised Barry that nobody would scare him away, he wasn’t nearly as sure that Barry wouldn’t let Joe convince him that this was a bad idea.

And though their relationship was not even a month old, he knew that losing the younger man would leave a gaping hole in his heart that he wasn’t sure would ever heal completely.

Because being around Barry was like being in the sun. It was enough to completely dispel the darkness inside Oliver.

The detective’s eyes snapped to him as soon as Barry opened the door and the older man scowled as he walked in. “I see Wells was right. You’ve got company,” he said in a clearly unhappy tone.

“Oliver came down for a visit,” Barry told him, trying to keep his voice pleasant, even as Oliver noticed a tenseness in his shoulders. Whether that was there at Joe’s tone or mention of Wells, he wasn’t sure.“He’s here to relax.”

“Good,” Joe replied, shooting the blond an unimpressed look. “Maybe that means we won’t find any bodies with arrows through them.”

“Joe, he doesn’t _do_ that anymore,” Barry said, voice almost a whine. Oliver barely suppressed a smile, knowing it was inappropriate with the detective still glaring at him. But Barry was just so _adorable_. How could anyone _not_ smile at him?

Apparently, Joe found it very easy.

“A reformed killer is still a killer,” he shot back.

Oliver had a feeling that this wasn’t going to get any better. He wanted to say something to help Barry, but he had no idea what to say. He really couldn’t defend his actions. Not when he himself thought they were reprehensible. 

He glanced over at Barry and was momentarily thrown. He had never seen such a determined look on his boyfriend’s face. There wasn’t even a glimmer of a smile in his eyes.

“Oliver is a hero,” he stated, voice soft but full of steel. “Yes, he’s had to make some hard decisions, and yes, sometimes people died because of them. Bad people. People who wouldn’t hesitate to take the lives of others. I don’t think you or anyone else is in any position to judge him for those though.”

Joe looked visibly taken aback. “Barry, I…” He cleared his throat before starting again. “Son, I just worry about you getting caught up in some of those hard decisions.”

Before Barry could respond to that, though, Oliver did. “I’d never let that happen. Detective West, I can promise you that I would never let _anything_ hurt your son.”

The older man’s eyes looked back and forth between them in suspicion. “Why do I get the feeling that whatever is going on here goes beyond friendship?”

Barry smiled at him somewhat sheepishly and stepped closer to Oliver. “Well…” he said slowly, reaching down to lace their fingers together. “We’ve kinda been… dating… for a few weeks now. Since right after he was last in town.”

Joe took a slow, deep breath before letting it out. He looked down at their joined hands before glaring up at the ceiling, taking another deep breath. Oliver recognized it as the detective trying to calm down. He really hoped it would work because Barry’s hand was vibrating with nerves in his own.

“Nope,” the detective declared finally with a hard, short shake of his head. He gave Barry a pleading look. “Barry, son, I love you, and I will support you in whatever you do. But I will _not_ ,” he said emphatically, turning his head to glare at Oliver, “just sit by and watch this man tear you apart. I won’t. I _can’t_.”

The last part was said sadly as Joe shot the speedster a regretful look before walking away.

Barry waited until the door shut behind the detective before he let out a soft, hurt noise that punched Oliver in the gut and made him want to drag the detective back and yell at him for daring to hurt this amazing man.

Instead, he just wordlessly wrapped the younger man into his arms. Barry sagged against him, burying his face in his shoulder.

“I can’t believe he’s trying to make me choose between you,” he muttered, voice muffled but still understandable.

“I don’ t think he is,” Oliver assured him, hoping he wasn’t wrong. Barry looked up at him hopefully and he gave him a reassuring smile. “That didn’t sound like an ultimatum to me.”

Barry smiled back at him before sighing and stepping back out of his embrace. “I hope you’re right. So… shower and then dinner?”

He knew Barry was trying to distract himself from Joe’s reaction, so he let it drop. “I left my bag in my rental car, which I left at STAR Labs,” he told him.

“So what you’re saying is that you want me to run back and drive your rental here?”

Oliver smirked and placed his hands on Barry’s hips and stepped closer. If Barry wanted a distraction, he’d certainly oblige. “No, I want you to run get my bag, and then run back here and take a shower with me.”

Barry’s breath caught in his throat. “Be right back,” he squeaked, leaving in a blur and back less than a minute later, Oliver’s bag slung over his shoulder and a big grin on his face.

He returned the grin before tugging the speedster in for a kiss, backing them towards the bathroom blindly while deftly undoing the buttons on Barry’s shirt.

“This would have been easier if you had left them undone from earlier,” he murmured into the kiss as his back hit the door to the bathroom.

“Not sure that would have helped things with Joe,” Barry shot back with a chuckle that quickly cut off into a groan as Oliver’s mouth nipped at his neck.

“You really want to talk about your foster father right now?”

“I’m really not sure why we’re talking at all.”

Oliver grinned at that, helping the younger man out of his shirt and tugging him into the bathroom. He had absolutely no illusions that even shower sex would keep Barry from talking. He was, however, very interested in finding out just what he could make fall out of Barry’s mouth.

 

 

Showers, Barry had decided, were much more fun with company.

He couldn’t dwell on that thought, though, because they were now in public and those kinds of thoughts were not the kind he could think of in public without reacting in a way that was _so_ not fit for public.

He was so distracted by not thinking that he missed the waitress bringing the check and wasn’t able to snatch it up before Oliver.

“I thought Thea said you were broke?” he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“Broke is a relative term,” the blond replied with a shrug. “I’m not a billionaire anymore, but I have enough money to live comfortably on for quite a few years. And I still have the QC stock that’s now Palmer Industries stock, which is doing pretty good under Ray Palmer. So, trust me, I can more than afford to buy you dinner.”

“Well, that’s good because you know I’m only with you for your money, right?” Barry teased.

“Yes, that and my body,” Oliver played along with a straight face. 

“Yep,” he agreed. “So don’t stop working out or blow through all your money, or I’m out of here.”

“Duly noted,” the blond said, a serious look on his face as he nodded. The waitress returned with Oliver’s credit card and receipt. “Ready to get out of here?” he asked after signing.

“Yeah,” Barry said, getting up and following the vigilante out. “We should probably get your rental car from STAR Labs. Why’d you rent a car anyway? I can get us anywhere we want to go faster.”

“Well, as much as I love having your arms around me,” Oliver told him, stopping and pulling Barry off to the side out of the foot traffic. “I figured it might be nice to slow down this weekend. I thought maybe we could both use a little break from being heroes.”

Barry grinned, liking the idea but especially liking the fact that Oliver called himself a hero. The older man had the bad habit of thinking the worst of himself. “Okay,” he said, leaning in for a kiss.

Before they could get too caught up with kissing each other, a voice interrupted them from behind.

“Barry?!?”

He broke the kiss and cringed at the sound of Iris’s voice. “It’s possible I didn’t tell Iris about us yet, either,” he murmured to Oliver at the other’s questioning look.

“Bartholomew Henry Allen!” she cried, stalking towards them with Eddie trailing behind her sheepishly. When she got to them, she punched him on the shoulder. Hard. He had forgotten how strong Iris could be when she was angry or excited. 

He was hoping this was an excited strength.

“How could you not _tell me_ you were dating someone?!?” she asked, pointing a finger into his chest. “ _Especially_ when that someone is _Oliver Queen_!” She emphasized this by jabbing her finger into his sternum.

“Sorry, Iris, it’s just… new…” he glanced at Oliver desperately for help and he was quick to step in and divert her attention.

“It’s good to see you again, Iris. Who’s your friend?” he asked, looking over Iris’s shoulder to where Eddie was hovering awkwardly.

He looked extremely grateful that Oliver had stepped in as well. “Edward Thawne,” he introduced himself, stepping forward and offering the other blond his hand. “Call me Eddie, though.”

“Good to meet you, Eddie. I’m Oliver.”

“Queen, yeah, I know. I think everyone knows that now that Iris has shouted it out for the entire street,” Eddie said, giving Iris a teasing look.

She gave him a playful scowl back. “Excuse me, but you didn’t just see your best friend making out with a celebrity on a public street.”

Barry smiled at their interaction. He hadn’t really let himself realize it when he thought he still had feelings for Iris, but they were really good together. Eddie kept Iris grounded but still had a soft side with a quirky sense of humor. He was exactly what she needed.

“Especially,” Iris continued, cutting her eyes to look at Barry in mock-annoyance, “when said-best friend didn’t even _tell_ me that he was into guys! Barry!” She hit him in the shoulder again.

“Ow! Iris, jeez, I’m sorry!” he said, rubbing in shoulder with a pout. He glanced over at Oliver and nudged him in the stomach with a roll of his eyes as he caught the blond glowering at his best friend. “Stop that. It doesn’t _actually_ hurt.” Much.

Iris smirked. “Looks like you got someone who’s going to watch out for you. Good,” she stated with an approving nod. “You need someone to take care of you.”

“I can take care of myself!” he cried indignantly. Despite how he felt about Oliver, the last thing he wanted was for the man to think he needed to be taken care of. It was one thing to go along with the vigilante’s protectiveness nature, but it was quite another for Oliver to only be with him because he felt like he had to protect him.

“Sure you can, Bear,” she replied placatingly. She gasped suddenly and gave Oliver an eager look. “Oliver! What are you doing for Thanksgiving? You _have_ to come have dinner with us!”

The blond sighed. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Joe kinda… doesn’t approve of Oliver…” Barry explained to Iris and Eddie’s confused looks.

Eddie gave the other blond a commiserating look. “Don’t take it too personally,” the detective advised. “I don’t think Joe likes the idea of anyone taking one of his kids away.”

Oh, if only that were the only problem Joe had, Barry thought. That would make getting through his fight with his foster father much easier. He would still hate being at odds with him, but it’d be much easier if he thought Joe would come around eventually.

“We’ll see you guys later,” Barry said in a subdued voice. “We’ve gotta get going.”

“Okay, it was great seeing you, Oliver!” Iris gushed, giving Barry a wink.

“You too,” he told her. “And good meeting you, Eddie.”

As soon as they were a good couple of blocks away, they ducked into a side alley before Barry ran them quickly to STAR Labs to get his rental car.

“No more running anywhere this weekend,” Oliver told him with a smile. “We’re gonna savor this weekend.”

Barry grinned at that. “Sounds great.”

“You know,” the blond said casually once they had gotten in the car and pulled out on the highway. “You could come to Starling City for Thanksgiving. We could do a dinner with Thea. Maybe invite the rest of my team.”

“I’d _really_ like that, but how would you explain that to your sister?” he asked.

“Well, it wouldn’t really need explaining. She already knows we’re dating. She actually thinks we’ve been dating longer than we have,” he replied in amusement. “She might actually be right about that.”

He chuckled. Considering how often he was in Starling the week before they started dating and how much time he spent with _Oliver_ in particular, Thea might have a point. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “I meant your team. She doesn’t know you’re the Arrow, right? How are you going to explain your team being there?”

Oliver shrugged. “She knows I am friends with John and Felicity. And she’s friends with Roy so it’ll be fine. So what do you say?”

“Joe’s gonna be pissed. I’ve never not spent a holiday with the Wests,” he mused with a rueful twist of his mouth. “But I want to spend the day with you, and it’s not like he’d be amenable to you coming over for family dinner so I’m in.”

Oliver frowned as he turned the car off after he had eased into a parking space outside of his building. “I don’t want to make you choose between us.”

Barry shook his head with a sad smile. “You didn’t. Joe did. Even if he didn’t mean that he was disowning me, he made it very clear that he didn’t want anything to do with what I have with you. And… you’re part of my life now, Oliver. And if I have to choose between two parts of my life, I’m going to choose the one who will at least _listen_ to me.”

Maybe that was harsh. Joe had very good reasons to be leery of Oliver. But considering how abnormal his life usually was, he could have this one normal reaction to a parent disapproving of a boyfriend with a checkered past.

“And I’ll always listen to you,” Oliver promised, leaning over the console to give him a soft kiss. “Now let’s go upstairs.”

A slow smile spread over his face. “Good plan.”

 

 

He was glad he had installed the bug in Oliver’s rental car. The conversation he had overheard was very interesting.

Eobard had hoped that nudging Detective West to visit Barry’s apartment while Oliver was there would drive a wedge between the two heroes, but he had underestimated the strength of their relationship.

New though it was, Oliver and Barry were committed to each other.

But driving a wedge between Barry and his foster father could work in his favor, especially given his plan. 

If there was one person that Barry might turn to other than Oliver, it would be Detective West. If that relationship was tarnished, Barry might decide to keep what was going to happen to himself.

And that, he knew, would slowly consume the normally upbeat and outgoing speedster from the inside out. Any relationship he had with anyone would suffer, especially the one he had with Oliver Queen.

The anticipation of destroying the younger man’s spirit sent a thrilling shiver down his spine. Watching that light in those green eyes slowly die over time might even be more enjoyable that what he was planning on doing.

tbc…

 


	10. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for non-consensual touching in this chapter. I apologize in advance.

“I’m really glad you decided to surprise me this weekend,” Barry told Oliver as they waited for Oliver’s train to pull in. They were early, but only because Oliver had been in charge of getting them to the train station. Barry was sure that if it the timing had been left to him, Oliver would have missed his train.

Not that Barry would have minded if that had happened. He wasn’t ready to let Oliver go yet.

Oliver smirked at him. “Well, I couldn’t let you do all the commuting. I feel like you’ve spend more nights at my place than you have at your own.”

He shrugged a little at that. It wasn’t untrue. “You don’t mind, do you?”

About half the time, Oliver wasn’t even _there_ when he crawled into his bed. Barry could admit it was a little creepy.

“Why would I mind a gorgeous man waiting for me in my bed?” the blond asked in amusement before an odd look passed over his eyes. He turned more to Barry and gave him a soft look. “To be honest, I’m more disappointed when you’re _not_ there.”

Barry beamed at him, knowing it wasn’t something that it wasn’t something that Oliver admitted lightly. While his boyfriend might want him around, he wasn’t usually one to ask for more than what he was offered.

Whatever, or _whoever_ , had put the idea that he didn’t deserve happiness in Oliver’s head, Barry wanted to strangle them.

“I don’t particularly like not being there either,” he confessed wryly. “It’s gotten to the point where half the training I do to get faster is so I can cut down the commute time to Starling. If I can get it down to just a few minutes…”

He trailed off and turned bright red. He was pretty sure he couldn’t have sounded more like a clingy crazy boyfriend if he tried. He did _not_ mean it like it sounded. He was in no way suggesting moving in with Oliver. Because no matter how much the idea appealed to him, what kind of psycho person invited himself to move in with his boyfriend after only three weeks of dating.

He kinda wanted to curl up in a ball and die in embarrassment. 

Oliver, though, completed his thought with batting an eyelash. “Then you could just make the move to Starling without even leaving your life in Central City behind. It’d be convenient. Although,” he said slowly, giving Barry a tight smile, “I don’t think running from your fears is the best solution.”

“My fe… _Oliver_ , that’s not why I want to be in Starling City all the time!” he exclaimed in exasperation. He froze, though, as he realized why that was so _stupid_ of him. It would have been a great excuse.

The blond’s smile was more genuine now as he wrapped his arms around Barry’s waist and pulled him close. Honestly, Barry had never expected Oliver to be so physically demonstrative with his affection, but that was before he had seen the man interact with his sister. After that, it wasn’t that big of a surprise.

“I would _love_ for you to spend more time with me in Starling,” he told Barry seriously, blue eyes shining with sincerity. “And if you ever want to make the move permanent and official, I am all for it. I want this to be forever, Barry. You’ve made me hope that I can have a forever with someone. I haven’t had much hope about anything for a while, so thank you.”

Barry blinked back tears at that, swallowing thickly so that he could say something, _anything_ , in response, but what did you _say_ when someone said something like that to you?

“I love you,” he said simply, not knowing what else to say.

Judging by Oliver’s smile, it was enough.

 

 

Going back to his apartment alone that night felt wrong. Everything about his home seemed _off._ He knew why. But it was crazy to miss Oliver when the other man had _just_ left. He was extremely tempted to just run to Starling City for the night. Hell, he’d probably even beat Oliver’s train there.

But again, Oliver had _just_ left. And Barry had already had a mini freak out about potentially being clingy. Following Oliver back to Starling would be the _definition_ of clingy.

Instead, then, he scarfed down a protein bar and a glass of milk, thinking maybe he’d take a shower before just heading to bed. Tomorrow he’d try to talk to Joe again. Try and make him see how important Oliver was to him.

He hadn’t taken two steps towards the bathroom, though, before he began feeling odd. He made to grab the kitchen counter but his hand missed, the floor suddenly coming at him in a weird kind of slow motion.

Despite how heavily he fell, he barely felt the impact.

“Hello, Barry,” an oddly distorted voice said from somewhere behind and above him.

He tried desperately to turn his head, to stand up, to do _something_ , but it was useless.

He couldn’t move.

“Let’s get you comfortable,” the voice suggested.

Barry felt a hand grab his shirt and drag him towards the bed. Except it didn’t feel so much like dragging as it flying. He wasn’t sure if it was whatever it was that was keeping him from moving, but it felt like the man, whoever he was, was moving faster than he should be.

He felt like that should be significant to him, but his thoughts were all muddled. It felt like everything about him had been slowed down to a glacial speed.

He was thrown unceremonious onto the bed on his back, head flopping listlessly to the side. He gaped in horror at the sight that greeted him.

The man in yellow was standing over him, face a blur and eyes a glaring red.

This… couldn’t be real, he decided. This was a nightmare. This entire situation was beyond surreal. 

Why would the man in yellow be _here_? Why would he seek Barry out?

No, this was a dream.

“I think you’re wearing too many clothes for this particular conversation, Barry,” the man said.

His voice was garbled like Barry’s when he vibrated his vocal cords. It made sense that his subconscious would use that detail in creating this nightmare. He was too busy with that thought to process what the specter of his mother’s killer was saying before he was suddenly naked.

Fear threatened to choke him at that. The air on his skin felt too cool, too _real_ , to be a dream. 

This was actually happening.

The man in yellow was hovering over his prone, helpless, and _naked_ body.

He wanted to yell, _scream_ at the man to get away from him, but he couldn’t. Not only was he completely immobile, but whatever had caused him to be motionless was also keeping him silent.

“I’m going to enjoy,” the yellow-clad speedster told him, removing his gloves in a deliberate fashion before setting them aside.

Barry could only stare as the man brought a hand to trail lightly down his torso, shuddering violently in revulsion as the hand met his skin.

Why was that worthless motion the only thing he could manage?

“You have no idea how many times I’ve already done this,” the man spoke again, moving his hand so that his thumb could play with Barry’s left nipple. “Touched you in the most _intimate_ way possible. I must say, though, you being conscious adds a thrill to the experience.”

Barry’s mind balked at that. No. There was no way this monster had done this to him before. He wouldn’t known. 

“Nine months is a long time,” he continued. “No one bothered to make security that great. Not that it would have kept me out anyway.”

Tears filled his eyes as the hands went _lower_ , hating himself with everything he had within him when he _reacted_ to the touch.

“Yes, look at that,” the monster murmured. “Look at how you harden for me so beautifully. Like you were _made_ just for me to play with.”

The tears were running unchecked from his eyes now. He hated the soft stroking of his very much unwanted arousal. Hated the pleasure mounting inside him.

His mind knew that this wasn’t his fault. Knew that it was just the physiological response to the touches the man was giving him. Knew that no one would blame him for what his body was going through right now.

Knowing all of that, though, didn’t quell the crippling shame that welled inside him as the monster in yellow brought him to climax.

His breath was coming harsh now, an almost sobbing noise that sounded pathetic even to his own ears.

“This was fun,” his molester said calmly, red eyes sweeping up and down his body.

He was shaking. He couldn’t stop. He didn’t even know if it was in fear or anger or shame or disgust or what, but he couldn’t stop.

“We will be doing this again,” he told him, distorted vocal cords not covering up the smug tone of his voice.

And as suddenly as the man in yellow, he was gone, leaving Barry shivering on the bed and silently crying.

It was hours before he gained enough control of his body to roll of the bed, landing hard on the floor. His limbs were still shaky, legs completely unable to support him. Determined, he crawled painstakingly towards the bathroom, never so grateful to have a walk-in shower as he was in that moment.

He fumbled with the knobs before he was able to turn the shower on full blast, water turned up as hot as it would go. He hissed as the at-first icy water hit him but it eventually warmed up. He managed to position himself so that he was able to curl up next to the wall and still be in the direct path of the scaldingly hot water.

After a while, it felt like his skin was being melted off with the heat but he welcomed it.

He’d rather have no skin than the feel of those hands on him.

The water eventually began cooling off, turning icy cold again after an unknown amount of time. Barry shivered, lifting his head to peer through the semi-opaque door of his shower.

For some irrational reason, he was terrified to leave the comforting wet six square feet of space that was his shower.

Some superhero he was.

He turned the water off, unable to take the icy temperature. He curled up tighter in the corner of the shower, wrapping his arms around himself to find a little warmth.

He knew he was being silly. What were the odds of the man in yellow coming back again?

Stupid question, Barry thought derisively. The man had _told_ him that he was going to be back.

He had also said that he had done this before. Had mentioned Barry’s coma…

Oh God, had that monster _really_ touched him like that before?

He let out a sob at the thought. Of course, once that first cry left his lips, there was no stopping him. His body shook violently with the force of his crying.

What was he supposed to do? He had been absolutely helpless against the other speedster. What had he done to him? _How_ had he done it? Did he have abilities beyond his speed?

And how had he known that he was alone? Had he been watching him? Had he seen Oliver? God, had he _watched_ he and Oliver…?

He shuddered again as he felt an entirely new level of violation.

His mind immediately shied away from the thought. No. Surely the man would have mentioned his boyfriend if he had known about it. He seemed to enjoy Barry’s helplessness and vulnerability. The information that he was aware of his boyfriend would have only increased that.

But was it then sheer luck that the other speedster had shown up when Barry was alone? 

Another horrible thought hit him. What would have happened if Oliver _had_ been here?

This man had already killed Barry’s mother. He obviously had no qualm with hurting, _killing_ , people. What if he…?

Barry buried his head into his knees once more, hugging his legs close to him as he tried to curl into himself.

He’d find the courage to get out of the shower first.

Then he would decide what he was going to do next.

tbc…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you are worried about the lack of Team Arrow, they'll come into greater play in later chapters, I promise!


	11. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter wasn't the easiest to write so I hope it came out okay!

Barry got up on unsteady legs, leaning against the wall to stay upright. He didn’t know how long it had been since… it… had happened, but whatever the man in yellow had done to him to keep him immobile hadn’t worn off completely yet.

He managed to half-heartedly dry off before wrapping his towel around his waist. He kept one hand on the wall as he stumbled out of the bathroom and did a nervous sweep of his apartment with his eyes. He kept his back to the wall as best as he could as he hobbled to his dresser, and nearly falling over as he tried to step into his boxers. He steadied himself before tugging on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.

His gaze shifted to the bed for a second before quickly looking away with a shudder.

There was no way he could stay there tonight. Hell, Barry wasn’t sure if he’d _ever_ be comfortable there again. Not after…

His mind shied away from labeling what had happened. He wanted forget it ever happened, but he was pretty sure it was something he could _never_ forget.

It was engraved in his mind as deeply as the night his mother was murdered. There was no forgetting.

He slipped on his converse as quickly as he could and grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone before heading out the door, not really sure where he was going to go but needing to get away.

Barry was not expecting his anxiety to increase as he stepped outside. Being outside, he felt so… exposed. Maybe it was the fact that he still didn’t feel quite in control of his body yet, but if the man in yellow came back, he could attack Barry from any side and he’d have absolutely no warning.

He tried very hard not to think of that as he began to walk briskly towards the only place he could think that he could go.

He was sure he looked like he was drunk to any casual observer, as he steadied himself on every lamppost, newspaper stand, and mailbox he passed. Mercifully, no one stopped to question him.

He had never been so happy to live so close to work as he gripped the railing tightly walking up the steps to the station. Not even before he had his speed and he was running super late.

Barry had really hoped to get up to his lab without anyone noticing him coming in, but he hadn’t made it two steps into the building before he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

“Barry!” 

He bit back a groan as Eddie strode towards him. Instead, he tried his best to give Iris’ boyfriend a smile. Given the concerned frown on the detective’s face, though, he wasn’t sure it had the effect he had hoped for.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a worried tone.

Yep, definitely didn’t hit the mark.

“I’m fine,” he lied, trying to sidestep Eddie but the other man stood firm in blocking his path. “I just have some work I need to catch up on since I spent this weekend with Oliver.”

It was one of his better lies, but he knew it was completely ruined when he began swaying dangerously as his legs seemed to become more wobbly beneath him. Thankfully, Eddie’s hans shot out to grip his shoulders as he threatened to collapse.

“You’re not fine,” the detective said seriously. “Let me drive you home. Work can wait.”

“No!” Barry cried in a panic, realizing a second too late that it was too vehement of a response to be anywhere near normal. “I mean, thanks, but I’m good,” he backpedaled quickly.

Eddie wasn’t fooled for a moment though. He stepped closer and threw an arm around Barry’s shoulder, no doubt to steer him back towards the door.

He was probably surprised, then, when Barry gave a strangled cry and ducked his arm quickly, nearly falling backwards in his efforts to get away but able to catch himself on a handy pillar nearby.

Barry cursed himself. So much for being able to pass as fine.

Eddie’s face went hard, a knowing glint in his eyes. Because of _course_ Eddie recognized whatever signs Barry was giving off. He was far too good of a detective for him not to.

“Come on,” the blond said softly, approaching Barry like he was a skittish horse. “I’ll take you to Joe’s.”

He really wanted to protest, but he had a sneaking suspicion that if he _didn’t_ go to Joe’s with Eddie, then the detective would just call his foster father and then he’d have to deal with Joe’s prying here rather than in the privacy of his childhood home. In defeat, he followed Eddie to his car and got in without another word.

How was he supposed to tell Joe what had happened? The last time he had talked to Joe they had had what could _probably_ be classified as a fight. Joe was only going to find some way to beat himself up for not being there for Barry. Never mind that there was nothing that Joe could’ve done. 

A horrible thought gripped him as they pulled away from the station. If Joe, a cop, would feel guilty for not being able to protect him, how would _Oliver_ feel?

Considering all he wanted at the moment was to lose himself in the safety of his boyfriend’s arms, this was a particularly distressing thought. He didn’t think it was fair for him to feel better at Oliver’s expense.

And oh God, what if Oliver _was_ there next time and got hurt trying to protect him?

Thankfully, Eddie chose that moment to speak up, saving Barry from further worrying.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” he mumbled, looking out the window in order to avoid Eddie’s concern.

The detective didn’t press him any further, letting the silence stretch between them. All too soon, they were parking on the curb in front of Joe’s house. He reluctantly opened the door, nearly stumbling as he got out. 

Barry couldn’t stop his reflexive flinch when Eddie’s hand gripped his upper arm to steady him, but he was grateful for the hold as it kept him from face-planting. And to be honest, as Eddie kept the hand on him as they walked up to the house, it probably kept him from bolting as well.

Not that he’d get far. Not with his body still feeling like his limbs were out of his control.

Eddie stopped at the door for some reason. Barry looked up from his feet in confusion before rolling his eyes at the blond’s hand poised to knock. Iris and he never knocked when coming to Joe’s house and he saw no reason to start now.

He lurched out of Eddie’s grip and opened the door, nearly tripping over the rug in the entrance way. 

“Barry?” a feminine voice said. “Eddie?”

He groaned as he looked up to see both Iris and Joe in the kitchen doorway. Of _course_ Iris would be here too. He couldn’t quite make out their expressions with the light behind them casting their faces into shadow, but he was thankful for that.

Barry wordlessly shuffled to the couch and curled up on his side, burying his face in the back, trying to ignore everything happening around him and trying to forget that his being here could put them all in danger if the man in yellow showed up again.

And he definitely did _not_ want to think about what the man in yellow would do to _him_ if he came back.

He could hear low voices talking, but he blocked them out. He didn’t need to hear what they were saying to know they were talking about him and what could have happened to him. It didn’t matter. No matter what they thought of couldn’t really be worse than what had actually happened.

He felt a presence crouch down at his side before a warm hand settle on his shoulder. He tensed.

“Barry?” Joe’s deep voice rumbled, causing him to relax a little bit. “Can you look at me, son?”

He shook his head, keeping his face firmly planted in the cushions. Barry knew that if he looked up at his foster father, those eyes would get him to spill his guts. Years of experience had taught him that.

“Well can you tell us what happened?” he asked in concern. “We can’t help you if you don’t tell us how.”

“You can’t help me,” Barry muttered.

“I know it seems that way, Barry, but you of all people know that we _can_ ,” Eddie told him. “No one is untouchable.”

“Some people are,” he said bitterly.

“Barry, I know he’s got the resources and abilities to get out of something like this, but I promise you, if you tell us what Oliver did to you, we will put him away,” Joe swore seriously.

“What?!?” Barry cried in horror, sitting up and whipping around as fast as he could, which judging by Eddie and Iris’ taken-aback looks, was faster than was really normal. “Oliver didn’t do anything to me!”

“You don’t have to protect him, Barry!” Joe exclaimed.

“I’m not protecting him! Oliver would _never_ hurt me!” he insisted, letting angry indignation overtake him. That emotion was much easier to deal with than everything he had been feeling before. “Why do you always have to think the _worst_ of him?”

“What are we supposed to think, Barry?” Joe asked in exasperated frustration. “He comes into town and then you show up after he’s gone, shaking off some kind of drug and flinching away from anyone’s touch. What are we supposed to think?”

The anger drained out of him as quickly as it had come as his mind caught the word. Drug. He didn’t even think of being drugged. He couldn’t even get _drunk_ , how could he have been drugged? But another speedster would know exactly how fast his metabolism would process drugs. How could he not see that before?

“Barry?” Iris said in a small voice. He looked towards where he was standing next to Eddie, tears streaming down his face. He averted his eyes in guilt. “Please tell us what happened.”

Barry felt tears well in his own eyes. He turned away and curled back into the cushions of the couch. He shook his head again. He couldn’t talk about it. How did you _tell_ anyone something like this?

“Barry—” Eddie began to say before Joe cut him off.

“Okay, you don’t have to talk to us right now. Why don’t you go up to your old room and get some rest?”

He took the out that he was given, hauling himself up and slowly descending the stairs. He fell on the bed heavily, curling up as he finally let the tears slip down his face.

He had lost control of this situation. He was loss with no clue where he was supposed to go from here. He felt drained of everything, set adrift in a sea of nothingness.

Eventually, without his permission, his eyes slipped shut and he felt into an uneasy sleep.

 

 

Felicity gave him a serious look as he walked into the foundry. “Actually, sir, he just walked in,” she told whoever she was talking to on her cell. She stuck out the phone to him expectantly. “Detective West for you.”

Oliver knew this was coming. He hadn’t thought it would come so soon or that it would be done over the phone, but he knew Joe West would be having words with him.

Not that anything the detective could say would change his mind. He loved Barry and wouldn’t be scared away by a hundred disapproving fathers. Though, luckily, the most he could conceivably have to deal with was two.

“Detective,” he greeted respectfully after he had taken the phone from Felicity.

“Listen, Queen, I do not trust you and I do not like you,” Joe told him without preamble. “But Barry needs you right now so I need you to get your ass back to Central City.”

He stilled, carefully tamping down the fear that shot through him at the words. He wouldn’t be any help to Barry if he let his fear get the better of him. “What happened?” he asked in a deadly calm voice.

“He won’t tell us,” the detective spat in frustration. “But it’s pretty obvious that he’s been drugged and we think he’s been… sexually assaulted.” He whispered the last two words as if it tore him apart to say them.

They certainly ripped his own heart out.

A cold fury settled in his veins as he began drawing his own conclusions. 

Wells.

Who else would have known the type and quantity of drug to use?

The part of his mind that was able to think through the anger, a very small part if he were completely honest, told him that Wells was in a wheelchair and would never be able to overcome even a drugged Barry, but he couldn’t be sure of that.

He really couldn’t be sure of anything where it came to Harrison Wells.

“Where is he?”

“He’s at my house. He’s resting right now, but he needs you here.”

“I’ll be there as fast as possible,” he promised, ending the call and handing the phone back to Felicity.

“I need you to dig up everything you can on Harrison Wells,” he told her seriously. “ _Everything_ ,” he emphasized.

She looked up at him with wide and worried eyes. “What happened to Barry?”

“I don’t know,” Oliver said, not wanting to tell her anything without knowing all the facts. Or without getting the okay from Barry. “But I _will_ find out.”

 

 

Eobard had a problem, and that problem’s name was Edward Thawne. 

Why was it that his ancestor just kept throwing unexpected curveballs his way? No matter how much planning he did, the annoying little man just kept _ruining_ everything.

If it hadn’t been for the illustrious Detective Thawne, Barry would have holed up in his forensics lab until he was able to bottle up his feelings about what had happened, which would have inevitably led to a strain on his relationship with Oliver Queen.

Though Eobard still could not understand why Barry had sought sanctuary at the police station rather than come to STAR Labs. He had been patiently waiting for him to appear once Barry had dragged himself out of the shower, ready to lend a shoulder to cry on and advise him against telling his friends and family about what had happened.

For their own safety, of course.

So he had been mildly surprised when Barry had instead chosen to go to his lab at work.

It made sense, he supposed, since the police station was much closer and Barry’s motor functions were no doubt still severely impaired. He should have accounted for that. Maybe he should have given Barry less of the drug, but though he had copious amounts of data on Barry’s body, he hadn’t been able to test the potency of his little drug cocktail in the speedster’s body and had wanted to play things safe.

It wouldn’t have mattered. If it hadn’t been for Edward Thawne.

The most maddening thing about the detective was that Eobard could not kill him. Not if he didn’t want to erase his very existence from the fabric of reality. And anything short of killing would only be a temporary solution as Detective Thawne had firmly planted himself in Barry’s life by being both Joe West’s partner and Iris West’s boyfriend/future husband.

If it had just been the Wests and Eddie who figured out what happened to Barry, it would be fine. But he had been thrown yet another surprise.

Joe had called Oliver.

His frowned deepened as he thought through the various scenarios of how this could end, but he honestly could not predict what was going to happen now.

Perhaps the prudent thing, then, would be to wait for the dust to settle before he reassessed. He could be patient, after all.

Patient was what he had learned to do best.

tbc…

 


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter didn't want to flow so I hope it came out alright! Enjoy!

Joe seemed startled when he opened the door to see him on the other side.

“How’d you get here so fast from Starling City?” he asked suspiciously.

“I called in a favor from a friend with a private jet,” Oliver told him brusquely, brushing past him and stepping into the house. The truth was that _Felicity_ had called in a favor with Ray Palmer, but he was fairly certain Joe didn’t give a damn about the details right now and there were more important things than going into his travel itinerary.

“Where’s Barry?” he asked urgently, ignoring Iris and her boyfriend on the couch.

“Upstairs,” Joe said. Oliver was halfway up the stairs before the detective could get another word out. “Second door on the right!” he called after him in a muted shout.

He paused for a moment when he got to the door, taking a moment to collect himself before he went in. His anger and worry would do Barry no good. He took a deep breath and slowly eased the door open.

Barry was asleep, but it was a fitful sleep. He was tossing his head back and forth on the pillow as he muttered something in his sleep. As Oliver got closer, he could hear the words “no” and “stop” pretty distinctively.

He had to stop and close his eyes to control the wave of rage that rushed through him at that.

Oliver sat gingerly on the bed after he had gotten control of himself, frowning as he tried to think of the best way to soothe the younger man. After what Barry had been through, he didn’t want to touch him without him being aware. He didn’t want Barry to ever associate any touch of his with his attacker, even if it were subconsciously.

“Barry?” he called softly, hoping his voice alone would pull his boyfriend out of his nightmare. “Barry,” he said a bit louder.

The speedster’s eyes popped open at that as he jerked up, panting heavily as he took in his surroundings. As his eyes landed on Oliver, Barry seemed to sag in relief. “Oliver.”

He scooted closer and slowly reached out to Barry, making sure to telegraph his every movement. He didn’t have to worry, though, because as soon as he opened his arms, Barry all but fell in them with a sob.

“Shh,” he said, rubbing the younger man’s shaking shoulders comfortingly. He hadn’t known it was possible to hate anyone as much as he hated Wells in that moment. Barry should never be this hurt, this _broken_. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Barry shook his head. “No, it’s not,” he told him, voice muffled by Oliver’s shirt. “He’s going to come back.”

“He’s not going to _touch_ you again,” he growled back immediately. If Wells even _tried_ to wheel into the same room as Barry, Oliver was going to turn him into a pincushion.

“No,” Barry said vehemently, pulling back to give him an anguished look. “He’s already killed my mother. I am _not_ going to let him hurt you too.”

Oliver frowned in confusion. Wells killed Barry’s mother? That couldn’t be right. From the little information that Felicity had sent him on the plane, Wells had been in Starling City with his wife when Barry’s mother was attacked. 

Then he remembered what Barry had told him about his mother’s murder.

“The yellow speedster,” he said in realization, his eyes going hard. It explained how Barry’s attacker knew how and what drug to give him. “He did this?”

Barry bit his lip and nodded, turning his head away. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop him. He drugged me or something. I couldn’t move, not even when he…”

Oliver tugged him back into his arms as the younger man’s voice broke off. “It wasn’t your fault. He took you by surprise. There was nothing you could’ve done. And you have _nothing_ to apologize for, to me or anybody else. You didn’t ask for any of this.”

He shook his head but didn’t pull away from the vigilante’s embrace. “I should’ve been paying more attention. You always tell me to be more aware of my surroundings.”

“Hey, no,” the blond said, looking down at Barry and meeting his eyes. “That’s out in the field. You were at home, were you were supposed to be _safe_. There’s no shame in being caught by surprise.”

“You wouldn’t have been caught by surprise,” the speedster pointed out, a bitter edge to his voice.

“And I’m pretty much the last person you should be aspiring to be like,” Oliver told him seriously. The entire idea of Barry trying to be more like him was completely backwards. The brunet was supposed to be pulling him up, not letting Oliver drag him down. “You can’t blame yourself for this. The only person to blame is that bastard in yellow.”

“Maybe… But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s going to come back. You can’t protect me from him. He’s too fast,” Barry stated morosely. “What if I can’t stop him again?” he asked with mounting panic in his voice. “He could drug _anything_ I eat! If he moves fast enough, I’d never know! I can’t watch everything I eat at all times! And I eat _a lot_!”

“We’ll figure it out,” Oliver said calmingly, cupping Barry’s face and stroking his cheeks. “We’re going to keep you safe.”

“I don’t feel safe,” Barry murmured, green eyes glassy with unshed tears. “Nowhere in Central City is safe. Not from the man in yellow.”

Oliver latched onto that like a lifeline, anything to get the defeated look off of Barry’s face. “Then we get you out of Central City! Come stay with me in Starling for a while.”

Barry shook his head. “I can’t do that. Not with all the metas in Central City. I’m the only one that can stop them.”

“You’ve been splitting your time between the two cities anyway. Just… make your base in Starling City for a little bit,” he pleaded. “Just until you stop the man in yellow or at least feel safer here.”

He could tell from Barry’s indecisive look that he was starting to give in. “Won’t your sister mind?”

He shrugged easily. “Well, she hasn’t really had a problem with you spending every night there for the past few weeks…”

“Are you sure _you_ won’t mind?” Barry asked, voice so small it made Oliver’s heart ache unpleasantly.

“Honestly? I don’t want to let you out of my sight for a second right now,” he told him sincerely. “You might have to tell me to stop being so smothering.”

The speedster snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to leave your arms for at least a year,” he said with forced levity.

Oliver pulled him in again and tucked his chin over the younger man’s head. “I really don’t have a problem with that.”

 

 

Barry lay wrapped tightly in Oliver’s arms for a couple of hours after they had stopped talking. The more he thought about going back to Starling City with his boyfriend for a while, the more the idea grew on him. He just felt so… exposed… in Central City. Starling City felt _safer_ , no matter how much meaner Oliver said it was.

And it wasn’t like he’d be abandoning Central City. He’d still work here and fight metas and criminals and stuff. He’d just spend his off time in Starling. 

So many bad things had happened to him in Central City. Was it so wrong for him to want to get away from a little while?

“You’re not having any negative side-effects of the drug, are you?” Oliver asked him suddenly, giving him a concerned look. “You haven’t even let Caitlin check you out, have you?”

“I… really don’t want to go to STAR Labs,” he confessed, grateful for the understanding that flood the blond’s eyes. He already felt violated enough. He didn’t needed Dr. Wells’ eyes making him feel even more so. “Besides, I’m feeling pretty much back to normal.”

His stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, causing Oliver to smirk. “You must be if you’re hungry.”

Barry pouted up at him. “Does this mean I have to go downstairs to get food?”

“That’s not a very subtle hint, Barry,” Oliver teased. “But I’ll get you something to eat. Be back in a minute.” He dropped a kiss on his forehead and made to stand up.

“No!” the speedster cried in a sudden fit of panic, realizing Oliver going downstairs meant he’d be alone. He locked his arms around the blond’s waist. “Don’t leave me.” 

Barry was instantly embarrassed at his own neediness and tried to backpedal. “I mean,” he muttered, loosening his arms and giving Oliver space to get up. 

“Hey,” Oliver said softly, hand reaching out to cup Barry’s face gently. “It’s okay. After what you’ve been through, it’s understandable to not want to be alone. And as long as I’m around, you’ll never _have_ to be alone.”

He scoffed. “You can’t be my permanent bodyguard, Oliver. You have more important things to deal with.”

“ _Nothing_ is more important than you!” the vigilante argued.

“You and I both know that’s not true,” Barry shot back, giving him a look of fond exasperation. “Besides, I’m the Flash! I’m supposed to be able to take care of myself!”

“Sometimes taking care of ourselves means letting other people help us,” Oliver said sagely.

He snorted. “Did you get that from a fortune cookie?” he asked incredulously.

The blond gave him a mysterious smile. “Something like that. Doesn’t mean it isn’t true, though.”

“Maybe,” Barry conceded, leaning his head forward and pressing his forehead against Oliver’s, drawing strength from the contact.

“I _want_ to be here for you,” Oliver told him earnestly. “I love you.”

“Well,” he said, forcing some lightness into his voice. “I hope you love me enough for what we have to deal with now.”

“And what’s that?”

Barry pulled back with a sigh and gave him an apologetic look. “We gotta tell Joe that I’m gonna be staying with you in Starling City a little while. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled,” he said sarcastically.

“You know he was the one who called me to tell me I needed to come back,” the blond informed him.

“ _What_?” he cried in shock. 

“Pretty sure that man would do anything for you,” Oliver pointed out with a soft smile. “Even put up with me when you need me.”

Barry’s lips quirked upwards as he thought about his foster father and all he had done for him through the years. “He’s still not going to be too happy…”

“But he’ll understand because he wants what’s best for you,” the vigilante stated with certainty.

Barry knew Oliver was just trying to keep him from worrying, but he let his words ease his apprehension anyway.

“Come on,” Oliver said, rolling off the bed and holding a hand out and helping Barry up. “Let’s get you some food and we can tell him together.”

Barry let Oliver lead him downstairs, and if he kept a tight grip on his boyfriend’s hand the entire way, well, the blond was nice enough not to comment on it. He froze, though, as he reached the dining room and saw Joe, Iris, and Eddie all gathered around the table.

“Barry…” Iris breathed, jumping up and throwing her arms around him. He tensed instantly, squeezing Oliver’s hand in a death grip. She noticed immediately and quickly released him, taking a step back with tears in her eyes.

“Iris? Why don’t you and Eddie go pick us up some pizza?” Joe suggested, coming up behind her and putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure Barry is hungry.”

She took a shaky breath and nodded. She gave Barry a watery smile. “We’ll be back soon, Bear. Love you.” She looked like she wanted to give him another hug, but Barry was grateful that she didn’t, which made him feel _worse_.

He loved giving hugs to people he loved. He was the _definition_ of a hugger. The idea that the man in yellow had taken _that_ from him as well just added insult to injury.

“Who?” Joe demanded as soon as Iris and Eddie were gone.

Barry looked up but Joe wasn’t looking at him, but at Oliver. He happily let his boyfriend take the lead, still reeling a bit from Iris’ sudden hug.

“The man in yellow,” Oliver answered.

Joe took a sharp breath. “Son of a bitch,” he growled. He made a disgusted noise in his throat before giving Barry a devastated look, guilt painted all over his face. “I’m sorry, Bear. This is my fault.”

He shook his head. “No, there’s nothing you could have done.”

“But there _is_ ,” the detective insisted, pain in his eyes. “I _knew_ the man in yellow was in town, and I… didn’t tell you.”

Barry gaped at him, unable to process that.

“Why?” Oliver asked, voice deceptively soft. Barry knew that voice. It was Oliver’s holding-in-his-emotions voice. And he was pretty sure the emotions he was currently holding back were not pretty.

He shifted so that instead of holding Oliver’s hand, his arm was wrapped around his waist, Oliver’s arm coming up around his shoulders automatically in response.

“He threatened Iris,” Joe replied thickly. “I didn’t—” His voice cracked and he took a deep breath before continuing, “I didn’t know I was choosing which of my children to protect.”

Barry understood. “You couldn’t have known,” he told him before sighing. “And you couldn’t have protected me from this anyway.”

“Yeah, well, I would’ve felt better if I had had the chance to try,” the detective remarked bitterly. “So how do we get this guy?”

Barry bit his lip and shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know where he is. I don’t know what he wants. Well…” he trailed off with a shudder as he realized he did know _something_ that the other speedster wanted.

“What?” Joe asked.

“He said he’d be back for Barry,” Oliver stepped in and said. “That this would happen again.”

“Well we’re definitely not using Barry as bait,” the detective said sharply.

“That was _never_ the plan,” the vigilante told him in a forced calm voice.

“Then what is the plan?”

“I’m going to back to Starling City to stay with Oliver for a while,” Barry told him.

Joe frowned. “The solution is you moving to Starling City?”

“Just temporarily,” he protested. “Until I can feel safe sleeping in Central City again.”

“And you feel safe in _Starling_ _City_?” Joe said incredulously. 

“I always feel safe with Oliver around,” he answered with a shrug.

“And I will _always_ keep him safe,” Oliver vowed.

Joe looked between the two of them for a moment before sighing. “I guess it isn’t a terrible idea for you to go somewhere you don’t have this hanging over your head. What are you planning on doing about work?”

Barry shrugged. “I figured I could just commute.”

Joe couldn’t help but chuckle at that. 

Barry shared a small smile with Oliver. That hadn’t gone over nearly as badly as he thought it would. And he was sure that, with a little time, he’d stop flinching away from people. He didn’t flinch away from Oliver. He just had to get used to everyone else again.

He still felt sick at the idea that his mother’s murderer had had his hands all over his body, but he resolutely pushed it out of his mind. He couldn’t process that right now. Not when he still felt so on edge. Not when he kept expecting the other speedster to pop up out of nowhere and attack.

Oliver squeezed his hand and shot him a worried glance as Eddie and Iris came back with the pizzas. Barry realized he had gone completely stiff and forced himself to relax, not resisting as Oliver led him to the couch and sat down with him.

Eddie gave him a sympathetic smile before setting the pizza boxes on the coffee table in front of them. Joe came in with a sodas for everyone before settling down on the couch next to Barry, making sure to keep a good deal of space between them so as not to make him uncomfortable. Eddie and Iris sat together in the armchair after grabbing a couple of slices each.

Barry made no move for the pizza, despite how hungry he was.

How was he supposed to feel safe eating _anything_ knowing that he had no idea how he had been drugged?

“Please eat, Barry,” Oliver murmured, voice pitched so only the brunet could hear him. “I promise I won’t let it happen again.”

He took a deep breath and nodded, feeling confident enough to reach out and grab a slice. Even if his food were drugged, Oliver would keep him safe.

 

 

Eobard growled in frustration as he stared at Gideon’s display.

The headline had changed.

Not the main headline. It still read _Flash Missing, Vanishes in Crisis_. So at least _the Flash’s_ future hadn’t changed.

Just Barry Allen’s.

_Oliver Queen Marries SCPD Forensic Tech._

How was it that instead of driving Barry and Queen apart, he had made them _closer_?

Barry was apparently going to move to Starling City. Or maybe it would be called Star City by then. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Barry would be lost to Eobard if he moved.

Sure, the younger man would obviously keep being the Flash in Central City, and likely still used STAR Labs as a base, so he wouldn’t be out of _Dr. Wells’_ reach, but if he needed another scare, he’d be out of the Reverse Flash’s.

From his calculations thus far, his speed would never hold out for 600 miles. And if it _did_ , he wouldn’t have enough charge to get back to Central City. So unless he showed his hand as Wells, his little _encounters_ with Barry would all have to be done with him unawares. 

Which was disappointing, as he had found it particularly thrilling the way the younger man had shaken uncontrollably beneath his hands. 

Another point of annoyance: the move was obviously going to cause the two to get married even sooner, as Barry would still be a tech instead of director.

Not that Barry was guaranteed to become director of forensics at SCPD. _Nothing_ apparently seemed to be guaranteed anymore.

Except for Queen’s relationship with Barry, that is.

How was it that _that_ remained so constant?

Eobard wasn’t sure, but he was determined to find a way to destroy it.

tbc…

 


	13. Chapter Twelve

_“You were made for this, Barry,” the distorted voice purred at him, hands trailing up his arms to gently rub his shoulders before running down his bare torso._

_The man in yellow loomed over him, face a blur but his mouth was twisted in a mocking smirk._

_Barry tried to move, but his limbs wouldn’t cooperate. “Please don’t,” he pleaded as the hands went lower._

_The man just chuckled as his hands crept to Barry’s inner thighs, gripping them tightly and spreading his legs wide._

_Barry gasped and went rigid as fingers teased his entrance. “No!” he cried, tears welling in his eyes as a greater fear ran through him. “Please!”_

_The yellow speedster leaned closer. Only, it wasn’t the man in yellow leaning over him anymore. Dr. Wells’ piercing blue eyes raked over his body._

_“It’s important to put ourselves outside of our comfort zones, Barry,” he told him, his voice calm with a pontificating tone. “It’s the only way we grow.”_

 

He woke with a gasp, heart pounding as he stared unseeingly at the dark ceiling above him. He sat up cautiously, stupidly relieved when he was able to move.

It was okay, he tried to assure himself as he struggled to get his breathing under control. He was alone.

He frowned as he realized how unusual that was. Oliver was usually there with him when he went to sleep and when he woke up. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was around midnight.

That explained it. His boyfriend no doubt had snuck out of bed for a quick patrol after Barry had fallen asleep. It was something that Barry himself had convinced Oliver to do, as even though he knew Oliver wanted to be there for him, he also knew the older man would feel guilty if he wasn’t protecting his city. The compromise had been for Oliver to stay with Barry until he fell asleep before going out for patrol.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but after being shaken by his nightmare, he was really starting to regret the suggestion.

Barry shook his head. No, Oliver couldn’t neglect his responsibilities for him. 

Still, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep right away, he eased off the bed, padding out of the bedroom and towards the stairs, vaguely thinking about getting some warm milk. He froze once he got to the bottom of the stairs though.

Thea was in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine.

He gulped, wondering if using his speed to dart back up stairs would be too noticeable. Before he could decide whether to beat a slow or fast retreat, though, Thea looked up and caught sight of him lurking.

She smiled brightly at him. “Barry! I didn’t know you were here! Come in here!”

He smiled nervously as he stepped into the kitchen. He had been staying with Oliver for nearly a week, and he still wasn’t quite sure if Thea really knew. To be fair to her, he had been staying there nearly every night before Oliver had come to stay the weekend with him in Central City. It probably hadn’t seemed like much had changed for her.

“Want some wine?” she offered, gesturing with the bottle.

Barry shook his head. “No thanks. I’m more of a beer guy.”

“We have that,” she told him, making to move towards the refrigerator.

“I’m good,” he said quickly, trying to lean casually against the bar but from Thea’s pitying look, it just came off awkward.

“I’m not gonna bite, you know,” she said lightly, putting a stopper in the wine bottle. “But you can’t blame a girl for being curious about the guy her brother seems to be head over heels for.”

He couldn’t help his blush at that. “I don’t know if I’d say he was head over heels for me,” he mumbled, although the description could probably be used for _Barry’s_ feelings for Oliver. “I mean, he loves me and all, but I don’t know if I’d say _that_.”

Thea smiled at him. “Trust me, Barry, I’ve never see him look at anyone the way he’s been looking at you. Now,” she said firmly, her brow puckered in concern. “What’s got you venturing out of your hiding place in Ollie’s room? I was beginning to think you were scared of me.”

Barry was honestly _terrified_ of Thea. Well, not so much _her_ , as her bad opinion. Oliver adored his little sister and Barry didn’t want to think what kind of influence her opinion would have on him when it came to his dates.

Not that he was going to admit any of that to Thea directly.

“I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep,” he told her instead, shrugging with a sheepish look.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Bad dreams?” she guessed.

“Yeah,” he said with a heavy sigh, shuddering as he remembered the dream. Leave it to his subconscious to mash together every horrible thing in Central City he was hiding from while simultaneously increasing his fears by tenfold.

Because he had never imagined the man in yellow doing _that_ to him, touching him _there_. He and Oliver hadn’t even gotten that far with each other, and he did _not_ want his mother’s murdered to be his first.

Oh God, though, what if he already _had_?

His breath caught in his throat at the thought.

“Barry?” Thea called his name, alarm written all over his face. “Are you alright?”

He shook his head to clear it. He couldn’t think about this now. “I’m fine,” he lied, giving her a forced smiled.

She didn’t look convinced. “Where’s Ollie, anyway? What’s the point of having a big, strong boyfriend when he isn’t here to hold you after you wake up from a nightmare?”

Barry panicked for a completely different reason at that. What was he supposed to say? What was Oliver’s excuse for going out at odd hours of the night? They hadn’t gone over this!

Before he could even begin to think up some lie that Thea probably would never believe, the door to the loft opened and Oliver walked in, immediately spotting the two of them at the bar.

“Hey,” he said gently, sidling up next to Barry and slipping an arm around his way, careful to telegraph his every move even as he leaned in to brush a kiss against his cheek.

Barry fought the urge to roll his eyes, but he was secretly grateful. Even if it were Oliver touching him, if he didn’t _see_ him, then he still tensed up or flinched away. He didn’t like it. It made him feel like something was wrong with him. Like he was _broken_.

“I thought you were sleeping?” Oliver said, question clear from his tone.

“Someone had a nightmare,” Thea chimed in, sending her brother a disapproving look. “Maybe he’d be sleeping if someone else were here to comfort him.”

If he knew Thea better, Barry might have glared at her. Instead, he just kinda shrunk into himselfwhen Oliver gave him a worried look. “I’m fine,” he mumbled, wondering if he said the lie enough, if it would eventually be true.

“Come on,” Oliver said, steering him away from the counter and towards the stairs. “Let’s get you to bed. Night, Thea.”

“G’Night,” he threw at her as well, wincing internally at the pathetic picture he must be painting for Thea. There’s no way she could think he was good enough for Oliver like this.

As soon as they were safely behind the door to Oliver’s bedroom, the blond pushed him gently down on the bed before stripping out of his jeans and into some sweatpants and slipping in next to him.

Barry wasted no time curling into the vigilante’s arms once more, sighing in relief as the knot of fear loosened a bit as he buried his face in Oliver’s chest.

“Do you want to talk about it?” the older man asked gently, his hold tight around Barry’s body. They had discovered a few nights ago that the tighter Oliver’s grip, the more secure Barry felt.

He really didn’t, but he also knew that he’d only dwell on it if he didn’t.

“It was happening again,” he whispered thickly, letting his tears fall unchecked on Oliver’s shirt. “Only… he was going _further_ … He was gonna—” he cut himself off with a choked noise, unable to actually say it.

Oliver’s arms tightened a bit around him before relaxing incrementally. “That’s not going to happen,” he stated softly.

“What if it already has?” he asked breathlessly, a slight tremble running through him. “What if while I was in a coma he…? Or he might have drugged me so I don’t remember… Oliver, I don’t want him to be the first person to…”

“You can’t worry about what might have already happened,” the blond told him firmly, dropping a kiss to the top of his head. “You’ll drive yourself crazy that way.”

“I feel like I’m already going crazy,” Barry confessed. He bit his lip as he thought of something that might help him. He wasn’t sure the blond would go for it though. He pulled back slightly to give Oliver a considering look, wondering if he even had the nerve to ask.

“What is it?” he asked, reaching up to brush the tears tracks from Barry’s cheeks.

“Would you…” he took a deep breath before continuing, “make love to me? Please?”

Oliver gave him a serious look. “I would love to make love to you, Barry. When you’re ready.”

“I’m ready _now_ ,” he protested, even as something inside him balked at the idea of being naked in front of anyone else, even Oliver.

“No, you’re afraid. And this isn’t a step in our relationship that I want to take because of fear,” the blond stated firmly.

“I just… I don’t want to be reminded of _him_ when the time finally comes,” he admitted.

“And I don’t want you to be thinking of him _at all_ when it finally happens,” Oliver told him, pulling him back in and tucking his chin over Barry’s head. “No one is going to touch you again without your permission, and we aren’t going to do _anything_ in our relationship until you feel completely comfortable with it.”

Barry melted into the vigilante’s embrace, allowing Oliver’s words to assure him. He was more relieved than disappointed at the blond’s answer, which probably just told him that Oliver was right. He was nowhere near ready.

“Don’t leave again tonight,” he pleaded as he felt sleep creep into the edges of his vision. 

“I promise I won’t.”

With that, he let himself be dragged down into slumber again.

 

 

Oliver collapsed on the couch after Barry had run back to Central City the next morning for his shift at the CCPD. He had tried to convince the younger man to call in sick, but Barry was determined that no one had work find out that anything at all had happened. Oliver wasn’t sure if that was the right call, but he understood. 

The cops probably weren’t anymore likely to believe that the man in yellow sexually assaulted him than they had believed Barry when he said that the man in yellow killed his mother.

Oliver would be more concerned, but Joe and Eddie had promised they would run interference between Barry and the other cops. Still, he worried. And he felt exorbitantly guilty after leaving Barry alone last night, whether or not it was the speedster’s idea.

Thankfully, Thea walked in before he could get too deep into his brooding.

However, considering the first thing she did was sit down next to him and punch him in the arm, maybe that wasn’t a good thing.

When had she learned to punch so _hard_.

“How could you just _leave_ Barry last night?” she scolded him. “He _needed_ you! He’s too good a person for you to flake out on, Ollie!”

“You don’t think I know that, Thea?” he snapped before taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Barry’s going through so much right now and I just… I don’t know how to help him.”

“Well, you can start by not leaving him in the middle of the night,” she told him. “He looked _really_ freaked out when he woke up.” That really didn’t make him feel any better, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t her goal. “I know you love him, Ollie. Don’t screw it up!”

“I won’t,” he vowed, a note of determination. 

He was going to cut down on his patrols for a while, he decided then and there. He knew that Barry had suggested he still do patrols because he didn’t think he should be put in front of Oliver’s duties as the Arrow.

But he had people willing to help him if he just asked. Dig, Roy, Felicity, they’d all step in to pick up the slack if he just told him what was going on.

Of course, they _didn’t_ know what was going on. He had told Felicity that Barry had been attacked by his mother’s murderer, but he hadn’t specified exactly _how_ Barry had been attacked. And none of them knew that Barry was staying with Oliver.

Hell, _Thea_ didn’t even really know that Barry was staying with them on an indefinite basis. That was probably a topic he should broach, actually.

“You don’t have a problem with Barry staying here, do you?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “He’s been living here for weeks and I haven’t had a problem with it. Why would you ask _now_? Believe me, compared to some of the people you used to date, Barry is a vast improvement. And he makes you happy.”

He smiled a bit at that. “Yes, he does.”

“So again, don’t screw it up!” she ordered before getting up and leaving him to his thoughts once more.

tbc…

 


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Barry grinned as he buried his head in his folded arms, body sprawled out on the floor ridiculously but he didn’t care. He popped his head up a moment later, cooing “Peek-a-boo,” to Sara’s endless delight. She bobbed up and down on her chubby little arms as she pealed with laughter.

“So what exactly were you and Thea planning to do if Lyla hadn’t volunteered to cook?” he heard Diggle ask Oliver somewhere behind him.

“We probably wouldn’t be having turkey,” his boyfriend commented lightly.

He could feel their eyes watching both him and Sara carefully. He wanted to believe that Dig, at least, was just keeping a protective eye on his daughter, but he knew that that was just wishful thinking. Although he didn’t _think_ Oliver had told his team exactly what had happened to Barry, they certainly knew enough to know that it had messed with Barry’s head. And John was a protector at heart.

Maybe it should bother him that the two men were watching him as closely as they were watching the infant, but in all honesty, all he felt was _safe_ under their protective gazes.

Barry had avoided interacting with anyone outside of Oliver, Thea, and work, so he was kinda dreading today. He didn’t want to ruin anyone’s Thanksgiving, though, so he was determined to go through with dinner.

It wasn’t so bad yet, of course. Then again, only Diggle and Lyla had come over so far, and Barry was able to occupy himself playing with Sara. But Roy would be over soon, he knew. And Felicity…

He was sure things were going to be awkward between him and Felicity, which only added to his unease. He hadn’t actually had an actual conversation with the blonde since he and Oliver had started dating. Sure, she knew about them, he knew. And they had texted each other. But Barry hadn’t actually _talked_ to her since the thing with Captain Boomerang.

Knowing how she felt about Oliver, and how he was pretty sure Oliver had felt about her before Barry had inserted himself in the vigilante’s life, he felt extremely guilty about essentially stealing Oliver from her.

So when a knock came on the door, he steadfastly ignored it in favor of making funny faces at Sara. He couldn’t completely block out the greetings Felicity and Roy exchanged with everyone, but he was pretty successful at staying out of sight.

When he peeked up, he realized that was because Oliver and Diggle had managed to steer the other so that Barry was mostly hidden by the couch and the two men. He also realized he was being ridiculous.

Today was a day to be thankful for friends and family. Not to hide from them behind the couch.

Taking a deep breath, he scooped Sara up off the floor and sidled up to Oliver to join the conversation.

“Barry!” Felicity greeted with a grin. “And Sara!” If Barry hadn’t been so nervous, he would’ve laughed at Felicity’s expression when she leaned forward to greet the baby. It was half adoring, half terrified. The blonde had once confided in Barry that babies, as cute as they were, scared the hell out of her.

Felicity had confided a lot of things in him during the course of their friendship. One of those things was the depth of her feelings for Oliver.

God, he was a terrible person.

“I’ll take her, Barry,” Diggle told him, reaching for his daughter. Barry relinquished her without argument. He had probably used her as a shield long enough. “It’s time for her to eat.”

“Well, now that you’re baby-free, I’m free to greet you properly,” Felicity stated, catching him off guard as she threw her arms around him. He jerked as if electrocuted, and she immediately released him with a panicked look. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, I, um—”

“He’s just a bit jumpy,” Oliver stepped in, stopping his ramblings. “Actually, I’m gonna borrow him for a bit.”

Oliver wrapped a gentle hand around his arm, moving slowly like he had taken to doing any time he touched Barry. He led Barry to the balcony, stepping close and wrapping warm arms around Barry as the cool air hit them both.

“We don’t have to stay,” the vigilante said sincerely. “If it’s too much, we can just go.”

It meant a lot that Oliver would even offer, but… “It’s Thanksgiving, Ollie,” he replied, shaking his head ruefully. “We’re supposed to spend it with friends and family. I’m happy to be here.”

“You’re uncomfortable,” he stated, a stubborn set to his jaw.

Barry shrugged a little helplessly. “I’m kinda uncomfortable all the time these days,” he tried to joke. “It’s kinda my new thing.”

Judging by Oliver’s frown, he wasn’t really amused. “Barry, I know it’s going to take time, but I just want you to be happy. Just tell me what I can do to help, and I will.”

The earnest note to the blond’s tone made something melt inside him. “You’re doing enough,” he assured him, giving him a soft, if somewhat broken, smile. “Oliver, I would be going _crazy_ if it weren’t for you.”

Didn’t Oliver realize that he wouldn’t be able to even _sleep_ if it weren’t for Oliver? Hell, he might even too paranoid to _eat_! Never mind how wonderfully supportive and loving the vigilante had been.

Oliver returned his smile and reached a hand up to cup his cheek. “You don’t smile as much anymore,” he said mournfully, stroking Barry’s bottom lip lightly with his thumb. “I would do anything to change that.”

If it were anyone else but Oliver, Barry would probably take that to heart and plaster a smile on his face as much as possible just to keep them from worrying. But he knew Oliver wasn’t asking for fake smiles, knew that Oliver would see right through his fake smiles. Oliver wanted to give him reasons to _truly_ smile.

“You’re pretty much the only person who can get a real smile from anymore, if that helps at all,” Barry told him, knowing it was small consolation.

Oliver shook his head sadly. “I wish I could go back in time and stop this all from happening to you.”

“I think time travel is beyond the both of us,” he commented with regret. “But I think they’re waiting for us to eat so maybe we should go back inside?”

“We can after you tell me one thing I can do that will make you happy,” the blond replied in a playful tone, but the serious glint in his eyes told Barry that he was dead serious.

Barry said the only thing he could think of, even if it was hardly fair given their extracurricular activities. “Don’t leave me.”

“Never by choice,” Oliver vowed, dipping his head as if to kiss Barry, but pausing a couple of centimeters from his mouth, giving him the opportunity to make the final step.

He hesitated only for a moment before leaning in and letting their lips brush together for the first time since his attack.

Barry sighed into the kiss as he stepped closer to Oliver’s warm, solid body. This touch, at least, didn’t remind him of what happened. Only Oliver had ever kissed him like this.

“Well, I know what I’m thankful for today,” Oliver said with a small smile as they pulled apart slowly. “I love you.”

Barry leaned into Oliver’s embrace, soaking in the simple comfort of those strong arms around him. “Sap,” he accused. If anyone had told him that _Oliver_ would be the cheesy one in this relationship, he never would have believed it. “But I love you too.”

 

 

“Are you ever going to tell us what happened to Barry?” Dig asked him later, after Felicity and Roy had left. Because Thea and Lyla had cooked, the two of them had volunteered to wash the dishes. Barry had tried to help as well, but Sara had started crying and Lyla had asked Barry to check on her instead.

He was fairly certain that Dig and her were already planning on enlisting the speedster as a babysitter.

“I told you that he was attacked by the man who killed his mother,” Oliver said, trying to keep his voice neutral. “He was pretty shaken by it.”

Diggle handed him a pan to dry while giving him an unimpressed look. “His reactions aren’t those of a man who got his ass handed to him by a man he hated. There’s no anger. Just fear.”

“Does it matter?” 

“We’re your friends, Oliver,” John stated with a frown. “And more importantly, we’re _Barry’s_ friends. We can’t be there for either of you if we don’t know what’s going on.”

Oliver sighed as he wiped the water from the pan in his hand. “What do you think is going on?”

He didn’t want to breach Barry’s trust by telling Dig or anyone what had happened without his permission. And honestly, he wasn’t sure if he could actually get the words out himself without his emotions breaking free. And if all that anger, sorrow, and _guilt_ were to get out, he wasn’t sure he could pack it back in.

Barry didn’t need to worry about Oliver’s emotions on top of everything else.

“I don’t know, but the way he flinches away from touch it’s almost as if…” he trailed off as horror spread over his face. “Oliver…”

He turned his back, using the excuse of storing the now dry pan in his hands in the cabinet to avoid looking at John’s face. “The yellow speedster managed to drug him,” he said in a tight voice, jaw clenching. “He couldn’t move and just had to lay there as he—” He cut himself off an took a slow, deep breath in through his nose before releasing it in a huff. “I should’ve been there.”

“You can’t be with him all the time, Oliver,” John stated, stepping closer and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “But you can be there for him now.”

Oliver knew that John was right. There was nothing he could have done, as much as it pained him to admit. He was sure the man in yellow had chosen the night after he left _because_ he had left. It didn’t make accepting that he couldn’t have stopped the attack any easier.

He looked up to see Barry coming downstairs with Sara in his arms. He was smiling at the baby, and Oliver’s heart ached at how beautiful he was. 

How could anyone want to hurt him? Who did the man in yellow think he was? What gave him the right to try and dim Barry’s light?

“I want him to _pay_ ,” he growled lowly.

Oliver might have made a vow not to kill, but he might make an exception for his boyfriend’s attacker. He was beginning to think it was the only way to see Barry smiling and carefree again.

“Is that what’s best for Barry?” John’s steady voice asked, no judgment in his tone. Oliver turned his head to see Diggle watching him with sympathetic eyes. “No matter what that man has done to him, I don’t think Barry would take any pleasure in knowing vengeance was done in his name.”

He glanced at Barry again and sighed. “It’s a little annoying that you’re always right, you know?” he commented a little bitterly.

Dig smirked at him. “Gotta contribute something to the team since I can’t shoot a bow or work magic on a computer.”

Oliver huffed a laugh at that. “Come on. Let’s join the others before Barry ends up stealing your baby for good.”

 

 

He frowned at the yellow suit in front of him, tapping his finger on his leg in agitation. 

His speed wasn’t coming back to him quickly enough. His current method of recharging was taking too long, especially with Barry spending every night in Starling City.

His plan had backfired on him. Instead of pulling Barry more under his influence and driving a wedge between him and the soon-to-be Green Arrow, he had driven them closer together.

Eobard supposed that everyone made mistakes, but for him to make such a miscalculation galled him.

Though it was certainly gratifying to have his nemesis running scared from him, it didn’t help his ultimate plan and took away one of his favorite pastimes. He would have to drive the Flash back to Central City.

To do that, he had to be _faster_.

And to do that, he had to pay a little visit to Mercury Labs.

tbc…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is probably going to turn into a full-blown AU of Flash Season 1 and Arrow Season 3 so I hope you're all down for that...


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Barry tried taking deep, calming breaths as he took in the crime scene at Mercury Labs. He didn’t like where the science was leading him. The type of damage done could have only come from high speed collisions. And in a space that small, there was only one place his mind went to.

“Barry? Barry!” Joe called, finally snapping his fingers in front of his face to get his attention. He looked up, his foster father’s voice breaking him out of slightly panicky thoughts. The detective examined him with concerned eyes. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for like five minutes. What’s wrong?”

Before Barry could answer, though, Eddie approached them from behind. “Get this. The witness said all he saw was a blur. Sound familiar?”

A cold sweat broke out on the back of Barry’s neck as his anxiety increased. He could feel Joe’s worried eyes on him, but he ignored him and strode determinedly towards the witness.

He had to know for sure.

“You saw a blur?” he asked without preamble, amazed at how calm his voice sounded. “What was it?”

“Whatever it was it was looking for something,” the scientist told him, shaking his head.

That was probably useful for the case, but it wasn’t what he wanted, no _needed_ , to know. “But what did it look like?” Barry demanded, a desperate edge seeping into his voice.

“Like a man…,” the witness said, noticeably taken a little taken aback by Barry’s insistence. in some kind of yellow suit.”

Barry’s blood ran cold. He nodded vaguely at the scientist in thanks before stumbling away as quickly as he could without using his speed. Somehow, he managed to find his to an exit and burst outside. He panted in fear as he grabbed the metal railing bordering the concrete stoop.

The door behind him burst open once more, causing him to whirl around in wide-eyed fear. He sagged in relief, though, as Joe and Eddie followed him outside.

“It’s him,” he blurted the words out in a panicked babble before they could say anything. “I can’t… He’s gonna come after me again… He’s gonna… I’m not fast enough to stop him… What if he…”

Barry was very aware of the fact that he was having a breakdown in front of Joe and Eddie, but he couldn’t stop. Tears were streaming down his face and it was becoming hard to breathe. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself, leaning forward and trying, and failing, to calm down.

“Barry, it’s okay,” Joe tried to sooth him, but when he went to put his hands on his shoulders, Barry jerked forcibly away, barely managing to stop himself from going over the railing behind him.

He swallowed thickly, eyes darting around frantically, jumping from Joe’s worried face to the empty alley behind him to Eddie’s concerned eyes.

He was too exposed here. The man in yellow could be here any second. Would he even be able to fight him if he were? What if he wasn’t even fast enough when he _wasn’t_ drugged? Joe and Eddie wouldn’t be any help. Bullets weren’t fast enough to stop him.

“I have to go,” Barry decided, throat tight with fear.

“Okay, Bar…”

He was gone before Joe could finish what he was going to say, running as fast as he could to Starling City. It seemed to take him forever to get there, though to be honest it was probably the fastest he had ever run.

He wasn’t thinking. Panic had completely taken over. Which is why he didn’t even think twice about running straight to the loft, not even bothering to slow down before he went inside.

He didn’t stop until he reached Oliver, who was standing on the balcony. He wrapped his arms tightly around the other man, burying his face in his boyfriend’s strong chest and trying to get his breathing under control as Oliver’s arms came around him almost automatically.

“Oh my God,” he heard Thea’s voice gasp. 

He cringed at that, wondering how pissed Oliver was going to be that he let his sister in on the fact that he was the Flash. It took him a moment longer to realize that he had accidentally let Eddie in on his secret as well.

God, how useless of a superhero was he? Not only was he running away scared, but now he was letting his secret identity slip. Pathetic.

“Barry, what happened?” Oliver asked urgently, leading him inside and sinking down onto the couch with him. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head at that, a broken sob coming out of his mouth completely without his permission as tears ran unchecked down his cheeks.

“Barry, you’ve got to talk to me,” the blond pleaded, pulling back so that he could look the speedster in the eye.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And then another when the first wasn’t enough to calm him down. “He’s back,” he whispered tearfully. “Or I guess he never left. It’s so _stupid_ to be this upset when nothing’s really changed,” he spat bitterly.

“No, it’s not,” Oliver was quick to assure. “But what _happened_?”

“He broke into Mercury Labs,” Barry told him, shaking his head and feeling foolish for making such a big deal about it. “I was working the crime scene when we found out. I… may have overreacted… Sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Oliver said, giving him a sad smile. “I’m glad you came back and told me what was happening. I think we should get you to bed so you can rest.”

Barry let the blond lead him halfway to the stairs before he shook his head and stepped out of his boyfriend’s hold. “No, I should get back to Central City and figure out what’s going on.” The idea of going back made him feel slightly ill, but it was _his_ city. He couldn’t just abandon it because he was scared. “Besides, if the man in yellow wants something from Mercury Labs, we probably don’t want him to get it.”

“I’ll come with you,” the vigilante offered.

Barry wanted very much to accept immediately, knowing that he could face anything if Oliver were at his side, but he hesitated. “Are you sure? I know you have… things to do here…” he trailed off, extremely aware of Thea, who no doubt could hear everything they said.

“Nothing that can’t wait,” he assured him. “Why don’t you run ahead and I’ll follow you? You can give Joe a heads up that he’s gonna have houseguests.”

It was probably ridiculous to feel as relieved as he did, but he and Oliver were stronger together. There was no denying that. If he was going to face the man in yellow, he needed every advantage he could get.

He nodded with a smile. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.

Oliver rolled his eyes, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around Barry’s waist. He leaned in and gave him a small peck on the lips. Barry sighed into the kiss, grateful that he could accept these small touches at least without flinching away.

“You never have to thank me, Barry,” the blond said seriously. “Now go on. I’ll be there soon.”

With one last smile, he was gone, knowing he was leaving Oliver in a somewhat delicate position as he would have to explain that his boyfriend was the Flash to his sister. He wasn’t looking forward to the equally as unpleasant talk he was going to have to have with Eddie when he got back.

Pushing the thought out of his head, he lost himself in his running.

 

 

“Were you going to tell me that Central City’s superhero was living with us?” Thea asked him as soon as Barry had run out.

Oliver supposed he should be grateful that she had waited until Barry had left. That wasn’t fair, he knew. Thea had tact when she wanted to, and she cared about Barry even if she hadn’t known him long. She wouldn’t wanted to have upset him anymore than he was.

“It wasn’t really my secret to tell, Thea,” he said with a sigh. “If I thought that him being here would have put you in danger, we wouldn’t have stayed, I promise.”

She gave him an unimpressed look. “I wasn’t worried about being in danger,” she shot back in exasperation. “If anything, I would have felt _safer_ knowing I was living with a superhero. But how did you meet the Flash?!?”

Oliver shrugged. “I met him before he got his powers,” he told her, grateful that he didn’t even have to lie. “You met him too, remember? He was the CSI that came to the party at the manor last year? The one no one else really came to?”

“Oh my God, how did I forget I met him before?!?” Thea cried with wide eyes. “Why did it take you so long to introduce us? Have you been dating ever since?!?”

“He got his powers the night he got back to Central City,” Oliver told her sadly. “And spent nine months in a coma.”

He was almost happy he hadn’t gotten to know the younger man more during his initial visit to Starling City. The little he had gotten to know him had made him fond of the CSI. Given how short a time it had taken him to fall in love with Barry after he had started spending more time with him, he sure was that if he had spent more time with Barry before the lightning strike, instead of pushing him off on Felicity, he was sure he would have fallen in love with him sooner.

And nine months of not knowing if he’d ever see Barry’s beautiful green eyes again would have ripped his heart out.

Thea looked thoughtful. “Something bad happened to him, didn’t it? Something that made him want to lie low here?” she asked, concern coloring her voice.

“Yeah,” Oliver confirmed with a sigh and shake of his head. “He didn’t feel safe living in Central City. I offered for him to stay with us until he feels more secure staying there again.”

She raised her eyebrow at him. “And you’ll be able to let him go when that day comes?” she said skeptically. 

“I will do anything that makes him happy,” he swore, even if the thought of Barry sleeping 600 miles away was like a punch to the gut. “This isn’t about me. It’s about him.”

“When did my flaky older brother grow up?” she asked in wonder. “Maybe Barry has been better for you than I thought.”

The words really highlighted the difference between the man he had become and the boy Thea still believed him to be. Because while Barry had certainly changed him for the better, it wasn’t how Thea believed. His sister thought Barry had helped him grow more serious and take more responsibility.

In reality, the opposite was true.

Barry had helped him loosen up, had brought light into his life where he was lost in darkness before. What Barry had done was much more impressive than turning a boy into a man. 

It bothered him that he couldn’t tell Thea exactly how Barry had helped him though.

For now, though, he had to let her continue to believe that Barry was less than he was. 

Maybe one day he’d explain everything to her, even if Dig had warned him that it was sure to drive her away forever. She deserved to know who her brother was. And if she couldn’t accept it, then he would have to accept that. 

Still, that was for another day. Right now, he had to pack because he had a train to catch.

tbc…

 


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long wait, but this chapter was a pain to write. Honestly, it wasn't my favorite episode of The Flash and a lot of what happened in the episode was not relevant to this story. I'm still not that happy with how this chapter turned out, but I'm hoping it sets up the next chapter, which I'm pretty excited to write.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“We have a plan,” Barry told Oliver as soon as he let him in Joe’s house. He was still a bit pissed about being told by Dr. Wells and Joe that he should sit this one out. After he had built up the courage to actually confront the man in yellow, to be told that he should just go home and let everyone else take care of it irked the hell out of him.

“I heard,” Oliver said, sliding his jacket off as the door was shut behind him. He wore a deep frown on his face as he stepped closer to Barry and snaked his arms around his waist. “Cisco called me. Are you sure it’s a good idea to build a cage that could be used on _you_?”

He shook his head. “I’m not worried about that. I’m pretty sure Cisco is the only one who could make something like this work, and he’d never use it on me,” he said dismissively, nuzzling his face into Oliver’s neck, some of the tension in him bleeding out. “I just want to _be_ there, you know? Dr. Wells and Joe don’t think it’s a very good idea, though.”

“Does Wells know what he’s done to you?”

“No, he just thinks I’m too close because of my mom and all,” he replied, pulling away to look up at Oliver with a frown. “This is _my_ fight! After all the man in yellow has done to me… He stabbed my mother through the heart, sent my father to prison, and then he…” Barry broke off his tirade with a sob, cursing himself for being so emotional. “If I don’t face him, I’m a coward.”

“No,” Oliver said, steel in his voice. He brought his hands up to Barry’s shoulders and fixed him with an intense stare. “You don’t have to face him to prove yourself. You have _nothing_ to prove.”

“What kind of hero can’t even face his own enemies?” he spat bitterly.

“The kind that knows his limits,” the vigilante told him. “Barry, when things get this personal, we lose objectivity. We do things we regret. I don’t want that for you.”

Barry could tell from the far away look in Oliver’s eyes that he was speaking from personal experience. Knowing that, he really couldn’t argue, no matter how much he _wanted_ to. “I just… feel like he wins if I don’t face him. Not because I don’t think the others can’t take him down on their own, but because he’s beaten _me_.”

“Hey,” Oliver said gently, one hand moving to tilt his chin up. “He only beats you when you stop living your life because of him.”

He sighed, leaning into Oliver’s embrace once more. “I’m not sure he hasn’t already won, then.”

“No, you’re still living your life,” he told him confidently. “You’re adjusting right now, but you’re still living. Now, what would you like to do while we wait for news?”

Barry hesitated. There had been something he had been avoiding doing for a while. Something he should have done as soon as he knew the man in yellow was back. And it was really something he’d like to do alone.

“Can you go to S.T.A.R. Labs? Be there when they get the yellow speedster so I can know for sure it’s over?”

Oliver frowned. “I don’t like leaving you alone…”

He gave him a half smile. “I won’t be alone. I’m going to go see my dad. There’s… a lot of stuff I haven’t told him.”

He wasn’t going to tell him about the attack, because it would only hurt him that he hadn’t been able to be there for Barry, but he could tell him about the man in yellow being back. And he really should tell him about his relationship with Oliver. With everything that had been going on, he hadn’t been to visit his dad in a while, so there was a lot to catch up on.

Oliver still looked uncertain. “I could go with you. I would let you visit with your dad alone, but I could be there just in case…”

Barry gave him a small smile. “I’m pretty sure the man in yellow is more interested in the Tachyon particles right now than he is in me. Besides, I’m the Flash. I’ll be fine.”

 

 

Oliver was honestly far from okay with being apart from Barry, but the younger man had been insistent. He reluctantly went to S.T.A.R. Labs, dressed in full Arrow regalia since he knew the Flash taskforce was going to be there. He wondered absently what Detective Thawne was going to do now, since Barry had told him that he had accidentally outed himself to the man at Mercury Labs.

He hoped the detective wasn’t going to be a problem, but he was sure that Joe would make sure that he wasn’t.

Which is how he ended up in the Cortex, surrounded with Team Flash plus Detective Thawne, all watching the monitor carefully, waiting for their trap to be sprung.

Eddie kept glancing at him out the corner of his eye, but Oliver refused to meet his eye.

Suddenly, there he was. The man who had hurt Barry so badly. Trapped within the forcefield, fist beating on the barrier in an attempt to get out.

“Let’s see what we caught,” Wells said, voice with an odd note of eagerness in it.

Oliver frowned as the others walked out before giving Cisco and Caitlin a stern look. “Whatever happens, don’t call Barry.” 

They looked startled at the order but nodded. Satisfied, Oliver followed Wells, Joe, and Eddie downstairs, the taskforce meeting up with them before they walked in to where their unwanted guest was trapped.

He glared at the man as he entered the room, a silent presence behind the cops. He was here to be Barry’s eyes and ears, but he was more than ready to intervene if need be. His eyes narrowed as Joe stepped forward, demanding answers about Nora Allen, Barry’s mother.

Oliver didn’t like the way the man just ignored the detective, focusing instead on Wells. It felt… off… for some reason. It was like he hadn’t even _heard_ Joe. He heard Caitlin and Cisco screaming at them over the comms before the speedster shot forward and suddenly both he and Wells were within the barrier.

Joe was screaming at Cisco to shut the barrier down so they could get to Wells, but Oliver was too busy watching to listen. Something was off about the fight. Why bring Wells _back_ into the trap with him?

Sparks flew as Joe destroyed the generator to shut down the barrier, and suddenly the speedster was behind them. The taskforce turned quickly, guns up as Eddie yelled for the man in yellow to stay where he was.

Streaks of red lightning blurred through the room as the cops were all disarmed and knocked to the ground, leaving only Eddie, Joe, and Oliver still standing.

Oliver quickly strung an arrow, but before he could release it, his bow was ripped from his hands. He was shoved back into the wall, a hand clutching his throat tightly and cutting off his air supply.

“You should have stayed in Starling City,” the speedster’s garbled voice told him, glowing red eyes glaring at him as his hand squeezed tighter.

The vigilante didn’t lose his focus, though, kicking out and catching the speedster by surprise. It didn’t shake his hold, but it distracted him enough so that Oliver could grab a knife and shove it through the speedster’s shoulder.

He cried out in fury before blows began raining down on Oliver without mercy. This was nothing like fighting Barry while he was under Bivolo’s influence. This speedster was ruthless. Where Barry had been unleashing feelings that had been magnified, Oliver was sure that this man’s only purpose in attacking him was to kill him. And though it terrified him to admit it, he was _faster_ than Barry.

Oliver tried to stay focused, but pain was making his brain go fuzzy. A small voice inside him was telling him that this man was going to kill him, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

The speedster let up for a moment, but Oliver could do little more than slump against the wall and glare up at him. He laughed down at him. “This was always where this was going to end. As if I would ever let you have him.”

Oliver braced himself for the final blow, unable to summon the strength to fight back. He hated himself for being too weak to fight back, for leaving Barry like this, _knowing_ the younger man would blame himself. He should’ve planned better. He should’ve have _known_ that a speedster that was so much older than Barry would probably be _faster_ as well.

There was nothing he could do now, though, as all he could do was wait for death.

A blast of fire knocked the yellow speedster back before he could finish Oliver off. The vigilante looked up in surprise to see a burning man standing in the doorway, flaming eyes glaring at the man in yellow.

Their enemy narrowed his red eyes. “This isn’t over,” he warned before he was gone in a blur of red lighting.

With the threat gone, Oliver let himself slip into unconsciousness.

 

 

Barry felt like his heart was in his throat as he stared at the bruised form of his boyfriend in the hospital bed. This was his fault. Oliver was only there because Barry had _asked_ him to be there. He of all people should have _known_ how dangerous the man in yellow could be, and he had just let Oliver walk in there in his place.

He wasn’t sure he could hate himself more in that moment.

“He’s going to be fine,” Caitlin’s quiet voice assured him. “He has some deep bruising, but nothing is broken.”

“You should have called me,” he told her, voice rough with anger and grief. “I should have _been_ here.”

“Oliver made us promise not to,” she said with regret. “And everything got bad so fast, by the time it looked like Oliver was in trouble, it was too late. Thankfully Ronnie showed up when he did…”

Barry instantly felt bad, knowing the sudden reappearance of her fiancé had thrown Caitlin through an emotional loop. “I’m sorry,” he sighed, slumping into the chair next to Oliver. “I just… I don’t know if I can’t get through this without him.”

He hated how weak the admission made him feel, but it was true. Oliver was his lifeline, his safe haven. He really didn’t know what he would do without him.

“You won’t have to,” Oliver’s groggy voice told him a second before he blinked open his blue eyes with seemingly great effort. He smiled up at Barry, though his smile looked painful on his bruised face. “For the record, though, you could. You’re stronger than you think.”

“Let’s not test that, okay?” Barry managed to choke out as tears fell unchecked from his eyes. He barely noticed Caitlin slipping away to give them privacy.

Oliver frowned and lifted the arm closest to him slightly. “Come here.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

The older man gave him an unimpressed stare, and scooted over a bit in the bed with a stoic expression on his face, even though Barry _knew_ the movement had to have been excruciating. “Come here.”

Knowing from the look in his eye that Oliver wasn’t going to back down, he curled up onto the bed next to him, trying to make his body as small as possible and make as little contact as possible with Oliver’s aching body.

Oliver, though, was having none of that as he shifted and threw an arm around Barry to draw him closer. “I’m fine, Barry,” he told him. “You’re not going to lose me.”

“I shouldn’t have asked you to be here,” he muttered into his boyfriend’s bare chest, which was mottled with bruises and made him ache with guilt. “This is my fault.”

“No, it’s the man in yellow’s fault,” Oliver told him immediately with a fierce scowl. “Don’t you dare take any guilt from that asshole.”

Barry shook his head. “I would have never forgiven myself if you’d died.”

The blond sighed and brushed a kiss to his forehead. “Let’s not worry about guilt you might have felt. For now, know that I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

That, Barry decided, was enough.

 

 

Eobard gazed at the Tachyon particles he had stolen in triumph. With them, he was one step closer to regaining his speed and seeing his plan through.

The only thing that would have made this moment sweeter was if he had gotten to actually kill Queen.

He could just imagine how broken Barry would have been at that, how beautifully malleable he would be in his hands. Convincing him to open the time portal would be child’s play if Queen died.

That, he decided, was for another day.

Right now, he was going to bask in his success.

tbc…


	17. Chapter Sixteen

“Okay, I get that Barry is the Flash, but how does that translate to _you_ getting your ass kicked?” Thea demanded to know a couple days later, after Barry and he had gotten back to the apartment.

Oliver saw Barry cringe in guilt as Thea glared between them. “This isn’t Barry’s fault,” he stated firmly, fixing Thea with a glare of his own. Barry had enough guilt over the situation without Thea piling it on.

His sister, however, just rolled her eyes at that. “Yeah, not really questioning that,” she retorted. “I want to know why my stupid big brother thinks it’s okay to pick a fight with his boyfriend’s super-powered enemies.”

“Well, the fight really wasn’t planned…” Oliver said in his defense. He didn’t bother lying about where he got his injuries. Thea wasn’t stupid, and the attack on S.T.A.R. Labs by a yellow blur was plastered all over the news. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together when you knew your brother’s boyfriend was the Flash.

“Why were you even _there_ , Ollie?!” Thea cried in exasperation as she put her hands on her hips.

Barry looked like he was about to say something as he hovered next to the couch Oliver was laid out across, but he shot him a warning look. “Sit down, Barry,” he told him, though his real message was _shut up_ because Oliver was _not_ going to let him blame himself for this anymore.

Of course, that left Oliver with no explanation for being at S.T.A.R. Labs.

“I had to make sure he was taken in,” he answered finally, the explanation sounding weak to his own ears.

Thea shot him a disbelieving look. “Pretty sure that’s what all the police were there for. What made you think it was a good idea for you to go yourself?”

“I can handle myself,” he muttered, disgruntled at the insinuation that he couldn’t.

“What if something had happened to you? Dammit, Oliver, it’s one thing to not care about how that would make _me_ feel, but what about Barry?” Thea shouted in accusation.

“Can I say something?” Barry asked timidly from his seat.

“No,” both Queens snapped as they glared at each other.

“But _I_ was the one who asked Oliver to be there!” Barry protested. Thea looked betrayed at that and gaped at Barry. “I couldn’t be there so I asked Oliver to go in my place,” he finished sheepishly.

“You asked Oliver, the man you _love_ , to take your place in a showdown with a super villain?” Thea asked incredulously, anger building in her eyes that Oliver needed to dispel _right now_ because Thea didn’t have all the facts and, if she exploded at Barry, the speedster would take it to heart regardless.

Unfortunately, the only way to defuse Thea’s anger that Oliver could think of was to just tell her the truth.

“He asked the Arrow to take his place,” Oliver stated calmly, hiding how nervous the admission made him.

Thea scrunched up her face in confusion. “What do you mean…” Oliver saw the comprehension dawn over her face. She backed up and carefully took a seat in the chair behind her as she stared at him, her expression unreadable, the pieces of the puzzles slowly slotting themselves in place in her head. “All those times you flaked out since you came back, every time you weren’t there or had some excuse, you were… saving people?”

The light of awe in her eyes was unexpected and far more than he deserved.

“I’m sorry I lied to you,” he told her, deciding to apologize before she could realize how angry she was.

To his surprise, she just shook his head. “No, I get it. It just… explains so much. I mean, yeah, you lied and I’m kinda pissed at you about that. I mean, Ollie, I’m your _sister_.”

“If it helps, I haven’t told my sister that I’m the Flash,” Barry chimed in with an understanding look. “Well, sorta sister. Foster sister, really, but that’s not the point,” he cut off his rambling before he could really hit his stride, for which Oliver was grateful. Personally, he found it adorable, but he didn’t think Thea would have the patience for it right now. “I do it to protect her. So that she can’t be connected to the Flash. Well, anymore than she already _is_ since she blogs about him all the time but—”

“What Barry is trying to say,” Oliver interrupted with a fond smile, “is that I was trying to protect you.”

Thea gave him a considerate look before nodding. “Okay. I can understand that. Just don’t do it again, okay?” she told him sternly. “From now on, no more secrets.”

“No more secrets,” he agreed.

He couldn’t help thinking about the promise later, though, as he was lying in bed with Barry, neither of them asleep. Because he was still keeping secrets from Barry and everyone, wasn’t he? He hadn’t told anyone about everything that happened on the island or Hong Kong, and while Barry vaguely knew some of the things he had done as the Hood, he didn’t know _everything_.

“I don’t want to keep secrets from you,” he told the younger man suddenly, causing Barry to look at him with surprised eyes.

“You don’t,” he replied in confusion.

“Yes, I do,” Oliver insisted, frowning up at the ceiling. “There are a lot of things I haven’t told you about my past.”

Barry rolled his eyes, setting back against him gingerly and tucking his face into the crook of his shoulder. “Those aren’t secrets,” he mumbled. “Those are just memories you don’t like talking or thinking about. We all have those.”

“But not everyone has done the things I’ve done,” he protested, wrapping his arms more firmly around Barry’s shoulders and burying his nose in his hair. He didn’t deserve the out that Barry was giving him.

The speedster shook his head. “I know the kinds of things you’ve done in the past, and I know how much you hate them and yourself because of them. None of those things matter to me, though, because I know the type of person you are.”

“And what type of person am I?” he asked shakily, half afraid of the answer.

Barry pulled back so that he could look him in the eye. “A _good_ person,” he stated firmly with absolutely no hesitation. “Someone who cares so much for everyone that you try to protect themfrom everything, even if it means that you let the darkness overtake you sometimes. But that’s okay, Oliver, because you don’t let the darkness change you and you _always_ come back.”

He blinked away tears and looked away, unable to meet Barry’s eyes. “I wish I could see myself like that,” he murmured.

“So do I,” Barry sighed, returning to Oliver’s embrace. “But until you do, I’ll always see you that way.”

He wished he had Barry’s boundless heart. Even when he knew the younger man was still in turmoil over what the man in yellow had done to him, the speedster still had enough love for Oliver to reassure him. 

Barry Allen truly was one in a million.

“I never did ask you about your conversation with your dad,” he commented, changing the subject to something hopefully lighter. “How’d he take you being in a relationship with a guy?”

He felt Barry’s smile press against the skin of his neck. It was nowhere near his normal full-blown grin, but he took every smile from the speedster as a victory. “He said he was happy that I had someone I cared so much about. Someone I could share everything with. Don’t worry, though, I didn’t tell him you were the Arrow,” he was quick to assure.

“I know,” he said confidently. He knew Barry would never betray his secret unless he had to. “Let’s get some sleep.”

 

 

Barry rolled out of bed the next morning silently, careful not to wake his sleeping boyfriend. While Oliver was much less sore than he had been a few days ago, Barry still thought he needed as much rest as possible. And since it was Saturday and he didn’t have to go into work, he figured he would surprise the older man with breakfast in bed.

Well, he conceded as he looked outside and saw how high the sun was in the sky, he could at least call it _brunch_ in bed.

He crept silently down the stairs, going out normal speed even though Thea had probably already gone to Verdant and knew his secret anyway. He rummaged through the cabinets in the kitchen before triumphantly pulling out a couple of frying pans. He turned towards the fridge and grabbed the milk and eggs before shutting it to hunt down the flour.

As he turned, though, it was all he could do not to drop the milk and eggs as he caught sight of the figure in the balcony.

For a terrifying moment, he thought it was the man in yellow, finally finding him in Starling City. When his finally registered that this figure was shorter and more female and clad in dark colors, he relaxed and set the milk and eggs on the counter in relief. Then he realized that there was an intruder in the apartment, and he was instantly on edge again.

“Who are you?” the woman asked in an accented voice, stepping into the apartment and pulling off the mask and hood she wore, revealing long dark hair and a beautiful, yet cold, face.

“Pretty sure masked intruders are supposed to introduce themselves first,” he shot back, though from her accent and her clothes, he could guess that she had something to do with the League of Assassins. That definitely didn’t make him feel better about her being in his boyfriend’s apartment, though.

“I am Nyssa al Ghul, Daughter of the Demon,” she proclaimed proudly, holding her head high. “And I have come for Oliver Queen.”

“Then you’re going to be disappointed,” Barry told her, stepping out from the kitchen and standing in front of the stairs.

“Calm down, scrawny man. I’m just here to deliver a message,” Nyssa said disdainfully. “Since he hasn’t been prowling about the city like some overeager guard dog, I decided we could forego some of the theatrics.”

“What message?”

Barry whipped his head around to see Oliver leaning against the upstairs railing, seemingly casually but with hard eyes staring down at Nyssa.

She glared fiercely up at him. “The time my father gave you to bring Sara’s killer to justice is over. You have exhausted his patience.”

“We are doing everything we can,” he argued, making his way slowly down the stairs. To Nyssa, it no doubt seemed like he was making a show of being calm. Barry, though, knew he was trying not to show how sore and stiff his body still was.

“You’ve been distracted protecting the city,” she shot back.

“You say that like it’s a _bad_ thing,” Barry said incredulously. Oliver reached the bottom of the stairs, and shot him a warning look as he took a stance next to him.

“This does not concern you,” Nyssa snapped, not even sparing him a glance. “In civilizations past, when someone in the village was murdered, the League would come and kill fifty people a day until the true criminal was rooted out. Find and deliver the one who killed Ta-er Al-Sahfer. You have forty eight hours, or the citizens of Starling will see what the League of Assassins is capable of.”

Oliver was tense with barely suppressed rage next to him. Barry wanted to reach out and reassure him, but from the distance the blond had put between them, he didn’t want this woman to know about their relationship.

“You’re going to slaughter innocent people,” he bit out. “This isn’t what Sara would want!”

“The cleansing of Starling City will fall to Sarab,” she informed him, as an Asian man strode in from the balcony. Barry had to wonder if the man had just been lurking out there creepily to make a dramatic entrance. “And Sara is dead. It’s time you remember that.”

“Maseo?” Oliver said, recognizing the newcomer and sounding stunned.

“Maseo is no longer,” the man said emotionlessly. “As she said, I am Sarab.”

“Deliver Sara’s killer or blood will flow in your streets,” Nyssa said with finality. The two turned on their heels and strode back outside.

“There _is_ a front door,” Barry muttered. 

Nyssa must have heard him because she shot him a glare. “You should know, Oliver, that _if_ we cleanse the city, there is no guarantee that your loved ones will be spared,” she warned before her and Sarab jumped off the balcony.

“Are they serious?” he asked incredulously, turning to look at Oliver and hoping against hope that he would tell him that they were joking. “They’re not going to just _murder_ people just because you can’t find Sara’s killer, right?”

“You don’t know the League. They tend to operate in extremes,” he told him, sighing as he threw a hand out to steady himself against the bannister. Barry stepped closer and wrapped an arm around his waist. “We need to get everyone to meet us at the foundry.”

Barry honestly didn’t think Oliver was healed enough to go hunting down a killer, but he also knew his boyfriend well enough to know that there was no way he would sit on the sidelines with the League threatening his city.

“I’ll run about the Central City and get my suit,” he said, making to pull away but Oliver gripped his hand tightly before he could speed off.

“No,” he told him firmly. “I can’t have the Flash here with the League in town, especially since they’ve seen Barry Allen with me. Nyssa and Maseo would put two and two together.”

“Oliver, I can’t just not help,” he protested. 

Oliver shook his head. “You’ve got enough on your plate to deal with without adding the my problems.”

“Honestly, I would love to be distracted from my problem by your problems,” Barry admitted. “And this relationship has to go both ways.”

He sighed and bowed his head. “Okay,” he said, looking up at Barry seriously. “But not as the Flash. Let’s at least _try_ to keep your identity a secret from people who would exploit you. Besides, in this case, your expertise in forensics will probably be more useful than your speed.”

Barry wasn’t exactly thrilled with the prospect of staying in the Arrow Cave while his still injured boyfriend was prowling the streets, but he wasn’t going to push things. Not when he knew how big a threat the League actually was.

“Okay.”

 

 

“What happened to no more secrets?” Oliver asked, striding into Verdant and pinning Thea with a stern look. She looked up from the paperwork she was going over and gave him a wide-eyed look. “You had to know that I would eventually figure out you were with Merlyn in Corto Maltese.”

She sighed and put down her pen. “Oliver, we’ve lost everyone. Malcolm is the only family I have left besides you. Is it so wrong to want to get to know him?”

“He’s dangerous, Thea,” he said, desperate for her to explain. “You _know_ the kinds of things he’s done. Why would you get in league with him?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I’m not ‘in league’ with him,” she scoffed. “Ive been getting to know him, learning a bit of self-defense, toughening up, but I’m not stupid. I know the type of man he is, but he wouldn’t hurt _me_. I’m his daughter.”

“Why’d you come to Starling with him a couple of months ago?” he demanded, needing to know that she had nothing to do with Sara’s death, despite the DNA that could match either of them.

“I didn’t,” Thea said in confusion.

“I saw the footage of you getting off the plane,” he hissed. He was trying to remain calm, because this was _Thea_ , Speedy, his little sister, but it wouldn’t be the first member of his family that Malcolm Merlyn had tainted with his evil.

“Oliver, I was in Corto Maltese since May. I never flew back to Starling! If I _did_ , I would have _told_ you,” she replied with furrowed brow. “Are you sure the footage was what you think it was?”

“Positive,” he said curtly.

Thea shook her head and stood up. “I don’t know what to tell you, then,” she said stubbornly. “I wasn’t here. I’m not keeping any secrets from you other than being in contact with Malcolm. I’m telling you the truth.”

He ground his teeth as Thea grabbed her paperwork and stormed past him. He didn’t know if he should follow her or go back to the foundry to see what else his team had found out, but before he could make a decision, he heard the sound of nearly silent footfalls behind him, followed by a much-loathed voice.

“She’s telling the truth.”

Oliver spun around and growled at the sight of Malcolm Merlyn. “You!”

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket but he ignored it.

“You may want to check that,” Merlyn advised with a pleasant smile. “I can wait.”

He narrowed his eyes but pulled out his phone, and opened the video he was just sent. He felt sick as he watched the footage of Thea killing Sara.

“I don’t think you want the League to see that,” Merlyn pointed out. “And if you kill me, they will.”

“She’s your _daughter_ ,” he spat. “What did you do to her?”

“Have you heard of a plant called Votura? Grows in South America. In fact, it thrives in Corto Maltese,” he explained with a smirk. “It makes the the subject extremely susceptible to suggestion. They typically retain no memory of their actions.”

“I will tell Ra’s this was you. That Thea was under _your_ control,” Oliver threatened.

“He’ll still kill her,” Merlyn said with certainty. “She fired the arrows.”

“You’ve given your own daughter a death sentence,” he growled.

“No, I’ve given you an incentive to tell Ra’s that _you_ killed Sara Lance.”

Oliver was taken aback by that. “Why?”

“By right you will be give na trial by combat, with Ra’s,” Merlyn answered. “His death will erase any blood debt from his reign, including Thea’s.”

“And yours,” he realized in disgust.

“And I thought the killing thing would be a deal breaker for you,” Merlyn said with a chuckle. “Good to know Thea is still a sufficient motivation.”

Oliver shook his head. “I’m not going to kill for you, Merlyn.”

“No, but you’ll kill for her.”

Right now, the only person Oliver wanted to kill was _Merlyn_ , but he kept still as the other man walked out of the club.

He didn’t know what to do. 

He couldn’t let the League see the video of Thea killing Sara. Merlyn was right. They wouldn’t care if she had been drugged. And if he gave up Merlyn to them, they’d discover the truth, either because he would throw Thea under the bus or because his death would lead to the video being sent to them.

But could he really kill Ra’s al Ghul?

If Oliver were brutally honest with himself, he knew that he couldn’t, and it had nothing to do with his vow to never kill again. He was still injured from his fight with, well, beating _by_ , the yellow speedster. Winning a fight against Ra’s would be a miracle in his state. The fight would more than likely end in his death.

And while he was willing to die for Thea, he wasn’t sure if he could put Barry through that kind of pain. Not even for Thea.

tbc…


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Barry listened with a stone face as Oliver explained the situation to his team and showed them all the video. He couldn’t show how much anguish he was feeling. This was tough enough for Oliver without him having to deal with Barry’s emotions on top of everything.

Felicity, Roy, and Diggle all began talking at once it seemed, telling Oliver that he couldn’t do this. That he was just going to get killed. That he should tell the League that Merlyn killed Sara, throw the asshole under the bus and never let the video see the light of day.

Oliver listened to it all silently, pain evident in his eyes.

“It’d be easy to destroy the video,” Felicity pressed when Oliver didn’t argue against their points. “I could erase any trace of a digital copy, and Barry could zip in and destroy any physical evidence of it. The League would never know that Thea was involved.”

“Merlyn made contingencies,” he replied with a sigh. “There’s no way we could be sure we destroyed every copy of the video before the League’s deadline is up.”

“So our choices are you die, Thea dies, or fifty innocent people die,” she summed up in a tight voice, tears in her eyes. “There has to be another option!”

“We can not play the League’s game,” Diggle suggested. “Put the city on high alert and call in A.R.G.U.S.”

“And turn Starling into a battleground for a war between the League and A.R.G.U.S.?” Oliver said with a shake of his head. “Half the city would be destroyed, and a lot more than fifty people would die. This only stops once the League has Sara’s killer.”

“Then give them Merlyn!” Felicity cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “He’s the real killer anyway! Thea was just his weapon.”

“The League won’t see it that way. And I don’t believe for a second that Malcolm Merlyn won’t sell out his own daughter in a heartbeat,” he said bitterly.

“What do we do then?” Roy asked hesitantly after a moment of silence.

“I don’t know,” Oliver murmured with a bowed head.

Barry knew that if he weren’t in the picture, this would be an easy decision for Oliver. His life for Thea’s? That was a trade that the vigilante would have ordinarily been happy to make. Barry would _like_ to believe that Oliver had more self-worth, now. That he genuinely believed that his own life was worth something and that his death would be an incredible sacrifice to make.

The reality was, though, that the archer knew how much Barry desperately _needed_ him.

He wished he could make this easy on Oliver. That he could just let the other man go without collapsing in on himself. Not that he wanted Oliver to just _go_ to his _death_ , but he didn’t want to be the reason he blamed himself forever for his sister’s death either.

If he wasn’t so damned needy, this would all be easier for Oliver. Some superhero he was. All he had done lately was blow his secret identity, nearly get his boyfriend killed, and run away scared from the man in yellow. He could lie and tell Oliver he would be fine without him, but he didn’t think he could ever fool the other man.

“Tell them I did it,” he said suddenly, as he realized there was something he _could_ do. Every eye in the Arrow Cave snapped to him. “Tell them I killed Sara.”

“No,” Oliver said immediately in a curt voice that was meant to convey that it wasn’t up for discussion.

Too bad he wasn’t the only stubborn superhero in the room.

“Yes,” he shot back. “You know it makes sense, Oliver. I know I don’t have weapons training or anything, but I wouldn’t need it with my speed. I could _win_!”

“You’ve never killed anyone, Barry,” he said firmly, blue eyes boring into his. “And I will not let you kill for me. I’m not worth it.”

Barry wanted to argue more, but he could tell that Oliver was never going to give an inch on this. It was a long shot anyway. Oliver was never going to let anyone take the fall for Thea but himself.

And even if choosing to die for Thea or live for Barry was ripping his heart to shreds, Barry already knew what he was going to choose.

“Let me come with you then,” he begged.

“I don’t want you anywhere near the League,” Oliver said, looking away.

“I’ll keep my distance,” Barry replied. “I promise. Just… let me be there. Don’t I deserve that much?”

He swallowed and looked back at Barry, tears in his eyes, and nodded. “Alright.”

 

 

Oliver sighed as he walked into the apartment and spotted Thea putting some finishing touches on the Christmas, Barry quietly sneaking up the stairs to their bedroom to give him and his sister some privacy.

To her credit, Thea knew something was wrong right away. “Something I should know?”

Barry had convinced him that Thea deserved a goodbye, but he how was supposed to do that without actually telling her what was going on. Which he absolutely could not do. Thea could never know that she killed Sara. Not when it wasn’t _her_ and it definitely wasn’t her fault.

He knew a lot about misplaced guilt, and he wasn’t going to let his sister go through that kind of pain. 

“I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be leaving in the morning,” he told her finally. “And there’s a good chance I won’t be coming back.”

She furrowed her brow. “Do you mean like you’re getting your own place or something?” she asked in confusion. “Is this about Malcolm? Because, Ollie, I’m not trying to replace you with him. I’ve _never_ tried to do that. You’ll always be my dork of a big brother.”

Oliver smiled a bit at that but shook his head. “This isn’t about Merlyn. And I’m not moving out,” he replied sadly. “But there’s… something I have to do. And I might not come back from it.”

The ornament Thea was holding slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor, but she didn’t pay it any mind as she gaped at him and took a hesitant step forward. “You mean you might not survive it,” she whispered in realization.

When Oliver just gave a tiny nod, she became angry. “Then don’t do it!” she cried, striding forward and putting her hands on her hips. “Nothing is worth you _dying_ for!”

“I have to,” he murmured, hating that he had to put this on her, but he knew it would be worse if he just disappeared. “People will _die_ if I don’t. Innocent people.”

“I don’t care!” Thea shouted, poking him in the chest with her pointer finger. “I care about not losing anymore of my family! Why does it have to be you?!?”

“Because there’s no one else,” he said in defeat. “I’m the only one who can do this.”

“But you don’t think you can survive,” she pointed out with a scowl. “And with as beat up as you are, you’re probably _right_.”

“Thea, I don’t have a choice,” he said, pleading with her to understand.

“What about Barry, huh? He’s the Flash! Couldn’t he help you?”

“I can’t let him help me. Not with this,” Oliver stated firmly. He really didn’t even want Barry coming with him when he faced Ra’s. If things went south during the fight, he couldn’t be sure Barry wouldn’t try to step in and save him.

The League wouldn’t forgive him for that. Still, he couldn’t deny the younger man’s request. Not when he was leaving him like this.

“What about the things he’s going through?” Thea argued. “You told me yourself that something terrible happened to him and that he was staying here to feel safe. Are you just going to abandon him like this?”

“You think this is easy for me?” he snapped. “Barry has lost more than he _ever_ should have in this life and I don’t want to be one more thing he loses, but I have no _choice_. Your dear old dad made sure of that.”

She looked stunned as she took a step back. “Malcolm? What’s he got to do with this?” she demanded.

“Let’s just say that he got involved with some very bad people and pissed them off,” Oliver told her. “And to save his own ass, he’s willing to throw anyone under the bus for him.”

“Why would he do that?” she asked in disbelief. “Why would he do something he _knows_ is going to hurt me?”

“Come on, Thea, he already was responsibility for the death of one of his kids, do you really think he wouldn’t hurt you?” he cried in exasperation. “You _know_ what he’s done. If I don’t come back, do me a favor and stay away from him!”

“If you don’t come back, he’s the only family I have left!” she yelled angrily before bursting into tears.

Oliver deflated at that. “That’s not true,” he murmured, pulling her into a comforting hug. “Maybe he’d be the only blood relative, but you still have family. Laurel, Felicity, Diggle, Roy, they’re all _family_ , Thea. And I would really appreciate it if you tried to take care of Barry, too.”

She sniffled and looked up at him. “Do you really have to do this?”

“I do,” he whispered in sad resolve. “I’m sorry I can’t explain more. Trust me, though, if it wasn’t necessary, my team wouldn’t let me do it.”

She nodded and lay her head down on his shoulder. “Just… try to come back, okay?”

“I promise.”

 

 

“You should sleep,” Barry whispered, eyes locked on Oliver’s face and trying to memorize every detail. He felt like his heart was tearing in two, but he was trying not to let it show. He knew this was hard enough for Oliver without having to see how he was breaking Barry’s heart.

He knew what he had signed up for getting involved with Oliver, just like Oliver knew the risks of dating him. Sure, he hadn’t thought something like this would happen so soon, and he had never thought he would have to just sit back while Oliver walked into a fight they both knew he would lose, but it had always been a possibility.

But while he always knew losing Oliver would hurt more than anything he had ever felt before, there was no way he could have predicted having to face the threat of the man in yellow alone. Not after…

He cut that trail of thought off furiously. He couldn’t dwell on his problems right now. Right now, Oliver needed him.

“I don’t want to sleep,” Oliver murmured, shifting closer to him on the bed and holding him tighter. “I want to spend the time I have left with you.”

“Don’t talk like that,” he pleaded, burying his face in the blond’s chest to hide the tears in his eyes. “Stop acting like you dying is a foregone conclusion. You have a chance.”

“Barry, as much as I’d like to believe that, we both know that the climb alone might defeat me,” he replied with a sigh. “My ribs are still bruised, and my entire body is still stiff and sore. Even if I had a shot at beating Ra’s before, I wouldn’t now.”

Barry winced at that. “This is my fault. If I hadn’t asked you to be at S.T.A.R. Labs…”

“Hey, no,” Oliver said, pulling away so that he could look Barry in the eye. “The man in yellow attacked me, and Merlyn used Thea to kill Sara and brought the League down on Starling. You didn’t cause any of that.”

“The man in yellow wouldn’t have attacked you if it weren’t for me,” he said in a pained voice. 

“He wouldn’t have hurt me so badly if I had been more prepared. That’s on me,” Oliver reasoned. “And there’s no way you could have known the trap wouldn’t have held. We all thought it would.”

Barry just huddled closer to Oliver and buried his face in his neck. No matter what Oliver told him, he knew in his heart that if the older man died, it would be his fault.

Which is why he _couldn’t_ let him die, he decided. He just had to figure out how to save him without making Oliver hate him.

“Speaking of that trap, I’ve been thinking,” Oliver said suddenly, causing Barry to frown.

“That’s not important right now,” he said dismissively.

“Yes, it _is_ ,” Oliver insisted, giving him a stern look. “No matter what happens to me, there’s still a threat to you out there. You need to be prepared, and to that requires you having as much information as possible.”

He furrowed his brow. “And what information don’t I have?” he asked petulantly, wanting to talk about the man in yellow even less than he wanted to talk about Oliver’s potential death.

“I think whatever went wrong with the trap, Wells was in on it,” the blond replied.

Barry wasn’t expecting that. “You’re just saying that because I was afraid of Wells before all this happened,” he said after a moment, shaking his head in denial. It was strange, but he had almost forgotten how uneasy Wells had made him. _Still_ made him, if he were honest. But after the man in yellow had come back, it hadn’t really seemed that important.

“I’m saying that because Wells supposedly got his ass kicked, but didn’t really seem that hurt,” Oliver stated. “Trust me, the man in yellow didn’t pull his punches with me. Why would he with Wells? And why pull him _into_ the trap? Why risk the forcefield trapping him there again?”

He made some good points, but Barry didn’t really feel like connecting the dots in that moment. He didn’t like the picture that was half-forming in his mind. He didn’t think he could handle it right then. He could think about it after Oliver…

After he _saved_ Oliver, he thought fiercely.

“I’ll think about that later,” he told him, shifting up and placing a kiss on Oliver’s lips. He shivered as he realized this might be the last night he spent with the blond and pressed closer, snaking his tongue out and deepening the kiss. “Will you make love to me?” he asked breathlessly as he broke the kiss.

Concern flooded Oliver’s blue eyes. “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

“We might not have time to wait until I’m completely ready,” he murmured, leaning forward for another kiss. He moaned as Oliver nipped at his bottom lip and then soothed it with his tongue. “I need this, Oliver. Please.”

The older man pulled back to study him with a steady gaze. Barry was shaking slightly, almost vibrating, really, but he wanted this. _Needed_ it. If Oliver _died_ without him ever really feeling him, Barry knew he would regret it for the rest of his life.

“Okay,” Oliver said with a nod, capturing his lips in a long, slow kiss before he urged Barry to lie back. “Let me know if it gets to be too much.”

He nodded, biting his lip as Oliver’s hands snaked beneath his shirt and pulled it over his head. Oliver’s shirt quickly joined his on the floor, and the blond lay over him, careful to not put too much of his weight on the younger man. Barry groaned as their naked skin brushed against each other, gasping into Oliver’s mouth as their lips came together once more.

They just kissed for a while, the tension in Barry slowly bleeding out of him at the slow slide of lips and tongues as the lust built within him.

He tried to choke back the shame he felt at his arousal. He hadn’t felt arousal since the man in yellow had forced him to climax under his touch. This was different though. This was _Oliver_. This was something he _wanted_.

His heart was beating faster than normal in his chest, and his breaths were coming in short gasps that had absolutely nothing to do with his arousal. He knew he was dangerously close to hyperventilating, but he couldn’t do that. Not now. Not with Oliver’s death looming over them.

Barry sobbed in protest as Oliver pulled back and rolled off of him. “No, I can do this,” he cried, trying to pull Oliver on top of him once more.

“But I can’t,” Oliver told him firmly, tucking him safety against his side in a completely nonsexual way. “I can’t have my last memory of you being of you trying to force your way through sex. I’m sorry.”

He chuckled weakly. “I don’t think you’re supposed to apologize for being too considerate of my feelings,” he tried to joke. “But we should sleep. You have to be at the mountain in five hours if you’re going to have enough time to climb to the top.”

“I probably shouldn’t have you run me there,” he said ruefully.

“But you’re going to let me,” Barry said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Besides, it’s a shorter run than it is to Central City. You have to wonder if the League has a sacred place in _every_ mountain range.”

“Probably not,” Oliver answered. “There are closer mountain ranges than the Columbia Mountains. But I wouldn’t doubt them having one on every continent.”

They lay silently in each other’s arms for a few moments, both soaking in the other’s presence, not wanting to ever let go.

“I love you,” Barry whispered, unable to keep the tears from falling from his eyes.

“I love you, too,” Oliver murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead. From the moisture that hit his temple, he wasn’t the only one unable to keep the tears at bay.

Somehow, despite everything, they both managed to get a few hours of sleep. They got dressed silently afterwards, both dressing warmly for the cold British Columbia winter.

They turned to each other nearly simultaneously. Both their eyes were dry and their faces resolute. Barry knew that Oliver had carefully packed in his emotions, focus on the upcoming fight and not on what could be his impending death. If he was thinking of anyone, he was thinking of Thea in order to remind himself why he was doing this.

Barry’s thoughts were focused on the upcoming fight as well, only he was trying to figure out how he could intervene without _actually_ intervening.

“Promise me you will stay off the mountain until the fight’s over,” Oliver said, a begging note in his voice that broke Barry.

“Oliver…”

“Barry, _please_.”

He swallowed thickly and nodded reluctantly. “How am I supposed to watch though?” he asked, frustrated that this could keep him from saving Oliver without infuriating the older man.

The vigilante stepped away from a moment and went to his closet. A moment later, he pulled out a pair of binoculars. “These are pretty high-powered,” he told him as he pressed them into Barry’s hands. “You can be a few of miles away and still see what’s happening.”

Barry sighed as he took them. “I guess it’s time,” he said sadly.

“No matter what happens,” Oliver murmured, placing a firm hand on the back of his neck and pressing their foreheads together. “Know that I love you. So much.”

“I know,” he whispered back. “Same here. No matter what happens.”

Even if he hated him for saving him.

Barry wrapped his arms firmly around Oliver’s waist and sped them away. A little over ten minutes later, they were at the base of the mountain. He frowned as he looked up at the climb Oliver had to make. It looked more like a cliff in most places than a mountain.

“I could run you up most of the way?” he suggested, worrying that the climb would only hurt Oliver’s chances in the upcoming fight.

Oliver shook his head though. “The League is probably already watching. It’s best I play by their rules from here on out.”

He nodded, unhappy but understanding. He stepped closer to give Oliver one final kiss, but the older man stepped back with a rueful smile.

“Just in case I get out of this,” he told him with another shake of his head. “I don’t want them to know them to know how close we are.”

Barry nodded. “Be safe,” he told him, knowing it was a stupid sentiment but saying it all the same. “I love you.”

“I”ll try,” he replied softly. “Love you too.”

Barry didn’t stick around after that, speeding away a couple of miles away and finding a spot where he had a clear visual of the top of the mountain. Through the binoculars, he could see who he assumed was Ra’s al Ghul, along with Nyssa and Maseo at the top of the mountain. They had noticed Oliver and were watching his climb impassively.

Barry shifted the binoculars down a bit so that he could track Oliver’s progress as well, feeling a lot less impassive that the assassins did. He couldn’t help but gasp in fear every time Oliver’s grip slipped, only to breathe a sigh of relief once he grasped the side of the mountain once more and kept his upward progress.

He wanted to be relieved when he _finally_ made it to the top, but he knew that the worst hadn’t even begun yet.

His heart was pounding as both Oliver and Ra’s removed their shirts, frowning at Ra’s’ arrogance in fighting unarmed while Oliver chose two swords. The dark bruises from the man in yellow’s attack stood out starkly on pale skin. 

In that moment, Barry knew that Oliver was going to lose this fight. 

It happened faster than Barry expected. He didn’t know anything about sword fighting, but he knew that Oliver’s form was good, his slashes and thrusts controlled and calculated. However, Ra’s dodged every one effortlessly.

When Ra’s managed to take one of Oliver’s swords, Barry was sure his heart stopped.

Should he go now? Speed in and disarm the Demon, knock him out so that Oliver could take the easy win?

He wasn’t sure that would count in the League’s mind as winning, though. Barry knew it wasn’t enough to kill Ra’s. The League had to _accept_ it. Cutting off the head of the snake didn’t help if it didn’t actually kill the snake.

And he was sure Oliver would be _furious_ with him for jeopardizing both Thea’s and his own life.

Before he could decide what to do, Ra’s had disarmed Oliver completely and suddenly a sword had gone straight through his boyfriend’s chest.

“ ** _NOOOOOO!!!!_ ” **Barry screamed in anguish, rushing forward just as Oliver fell backwards off the cliff. He ran up the sheer mountainside and caught Oliver mid-fall, darting back down the mountain and running as fast as he can, not knowing exactly where he was going but desperate to find a hospital.

Oliver was still breathing, but with the blood dripping from his lips, he wasn’t sure how long that was going to last.

tbc…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I thought really hard about which way to take this chapter, but finally decided on this. Also, because the mountain where Ra's and Oliver fought was a) somewhere where it was winter and b) close enough to Starling (which from the coordinates giving on the show, is basically Seattle) that it could be reached by a normal human within 12 hours (because that's how long Nyssa gives Oliver to get there), I placed it in Canada.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	19. Chapter Eighteen

Barry’s eyes were fixed on the rise and fall of Oliver’s chest, the steady beeping of the heart monitoring comforting after he had been so certain that his boyfriend was going to die.

He tightened his grip on Oliver’s hand reflexively at the thought. The blond’s pulse had been weak and thready as Barry ran as fast as he could, stopping at the first hospital he found and trying desperately not to think about the blood coming out of Oliver’s mouth that screamed “punctured lung.”

And because Barry was a complete idiot who was so focused on “hospital” and not “hospital with major surgical capabilities,” the hospital he had first brought Oliver to could do little more than stabilize him and airlift him to a larger facility. If he hadn’t been so worried about aggravating the blond’s injuries, he would have grabbed him and just ran him to a bigger hospital. Instead, though, he was forced sit anxiously in the corner of the helicopter and watch as the EMTs kept Oliver alive.

If Oliver had died in that stupid helicopter because of Barry’s stupidity, he honestly didn’t know what he would have done.

Oliver had been whisked off to surgery as soon as they had landed, with Barry relegated to the waiting room. He really couldn’t say how long the surgery had lasted, only that it had felt like days even though he was sure it was only hours. Even after he was told surgery was successful and Oliver was in recovery, they hadn’t let him see him.

It was a couple of hours after _that_ , when they finally moved Oliver into a room, that Barry was allowed to go in.

Not that seeing Oliver so pale and still on the bed made him feel any better.

His doctor had told Barry that they were keeping him in a medically induced coma to allow his lung to heal and to keep him from fighting the ventilator. He advised him, though, to talk to Oliver, to reassure the older man that he was safe after such a violent attack.

Barry had barely suppressed a snort at that. Oliver would probably be pissed at him as soon as he woke up and realized that Barry had probably put himself on the League’s radar by saving him.

He should probably call someone. Oliver’s team deserved to know what had happened. _Thea_ deserved to know what had happened. He should have called as soon as they had taken Oliver into surgery, but how _could_ he? What would he have said anyway? He hadn’t even been sure Oliver was going to…

Barry quashed that thought. Oliver was going to be just _fine_. Never mind that he knew that nearly a tenth of people who died in hospitals died from healthcare-associated infections. And he was sure that getting an infection was probably a thousand times more likely when you had two gaping swords wounds stitched up.

He tightened his grip on Oliver’s hand, as if the sheer force of his grip was enough to keep the older man safe.

In the end, his phone rang before he could even begin to calm himself enough to actually call anyone. Barry answered it quickly so as not to risk the wrath of any nurses lurking about, not entirely sure what the rules about cell phones and hospitals were anymore. “Hello?”

“Barry!” Joe’s voice greeted him, sounding concerned. “Where are you? You were supposed to be at work two hours ago and there’s only so much I can cover for you with Singh when we’re both supposed to be at a major crime scene!”

He winced. With everything that had happened, he hadn’t even _thought_ about things in Central City. It was partly intentional, as thinking about Central City invariably included thinking about the man in yellow and Dr. Wells and the possible connection between the two and what that _meant_ , but in blocking everything out, he had also forgotten about his job and his own team.

“Joe, I can’t leave Oliver right now,” he told him in a surprisingly steady voice.

“Barry, Oliver is a big boy with plenty of people to support him in whatever situation he’s gotten himself into, but you need to think about _yourself_ ,” the detective said.

“No, Joe, you don’t understand,” Barry replied, voice cracking a bit. “We’re at a hospital in Canada, and Oliver’s in a coma because his lung was punctured and he had surgery and I’m the only one _here_ and I _can’t_ just _leave_. What if something happens? What if…?”

He could feel his breaths starting to come in panicked pants and knew that he was dangerously close to hyperventilating. Who could blame him, though? He had seen his boyfriend _stabbed_ through the _chest_ and it was all crashing in on him at that very moment. Oliver could have _died_. If he hadn’t been there, Oliver _would_ have died.

Barry felt sick at the thought, closing his eyes as he bowed his head to press his forehead against the back of the blond’s hand.

“—answer me! Barry! Are you still there? Come on, son, breathe for me,” Joe was saying, obviously having been trying to break through Barry’s panic for a while.

“I’m here,” he said breathlessly, choking back a sob. “But I can’t leave, Joe. I _can’t_.”

“It’s alright, son,” his foster father assured him in a gentle voice. “We’ll take care of it. Don’t worry, okay? I’ll tell Singh there was an emergency. Just focus on Oliver, okay?”

Barry took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “Thanks, Joe.”

“Anytime, Bear. Love you, son.”

“Love you, too,” he murmured before hanging up and staring at the phone in his hand. He had put off calling Starling long enough. Of course, because he was a coward, though, he didn’t call Felicity or Thea.

He called Diggle instead.

“Barry,” the older man answered on the first ring, voice deadly serious. Barry could hear multiple exclamations in the background, so he assumed that Diggle was at the foundry. “What happened?”

Barry took a deep breath, knowing that Dig probably wouldn’t want to hear his rambling explanation. “Oliver lost,” he told him succinctly, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice but failing miserably. “Ra’s… he stabbed Oliver through the chest, but I got him to a hospital in time. They… they say he’s stable and should make a full recovery if there aren’t any complications.”

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know,” he answered, irrational panic seeping in as he realized he didn’t even know what _province_ he was in, let alone the hospital. “Dig, I don’t know. I just _ran_ , and the hospital I got him to was so small and then they airlifted us here, and I _know_ they told me where but I can’t remember and—”

“Barry, calm down,” Diggle ordered in a strong, but calm voice. “Just breathe, alright, man? This is easy to figure out. Look around. See if there’s anything that says the hospital name.”

Barry nodded but then realized that Diggle couldn’t see him. “Right,” he muttered, eyes darting around the room. He spotted his answer on a pad of paper on the table by Oliver’s bed. “Rockyview General.”

He heard Diggle relay the name of the hospital to someone, presumably Felicity. “You’re in Calgary,” he told him a moment later. “We’ll come meet you.”

“No,” Barry said firmly, even though he wanted to _beg_ someone to come. He felt like the worst boyfriend in the world, but he wasn’t strong enough to handle this on his own. Not when he was still so afraid he was going to lose Oliver. “Oliver would want you to protect the city.”

“No, Oliver would want someone to be there for you,” John argued back.

“Diggle, please,” he said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I can’t pull any of you away from the city. I can’t let anyone else put me first. Not after this. Oliver didn’t stand a chance against Ra’s because he got beat up putting me first.”

The last thing he expected to hear from the other end of the line was a derisive snort. “You two really are perfect for each other, do you know that?” Dig told him. “Both of you are self-sacrificing idiots who take on way too much guilt than is good for them. I’m at least letting Thea come up there.”

“Dig…”

“You can’t argue, Barry,” he pointed out. “Thea isn’t protecting the city, and she’s his sister. She has just as much right to be there as you do.”

“Fine,” he said in defeat.

“Good. And Barry? Hang in there, okay?” Dig said. “I know for damn sure that Oliver’s not going to leave you without a fight.”

He smiled wanly at that. “Thanks.”

After he ended the call, he was at a loss as to what to do. All there was left to do was wait, and Barry had never really been good at inaction. And though the doctor had told him to talk to Oliver, for once in his life, Barry was speechless.

What did you say to the man you loved after he had nearly died? After you were almost the reason he died?

Because Oliver was strong. Surely he would have been able to beat Ra’s al Ghul if he had been at full strength. Malcolm Merlyn had thought so. He had believed in it so strongly that he had been willing to risk his own daughter’s life. Even if he didn’t really care what happened to Thea, he had done it so that Oliver would fight Ra’s and have his own debts erased.

So if Oliver lost, it was because of _Barry_.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, staring at Oliver’s face and listening to the comforting _beep, beep_ of the monitors. Nurses filtered in and out of the room to do whatever they had to do, but he hardly noticed them. He didn’t even notice the sun rising until it was alright bright in the sky.

It was only when Thea waltzed into the room that he was broken out of his silent vigil.

“You look awful,” she said softly, stepping closer to Barry and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Have you slept at all?”

Barry shook his head. “Oliver’s the one you should be worried about.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Oliver asked me to take care of you before he left. I don’t want him to wake up and be upset that I didn’t.”

He rolled his eyes at that. “Of course he did,” he muttered. “This is my fault.”

“From what I’ve heard, this Ra’s guy and the League of Assassins were a problem before you showed up,” Thea pointed out, dropping into the other chair in the room.

“He wasn’t in any condition to fight because of _me_ ,” Barry snapped, wanting her to blame him. Wanting _anyone_ to blame him. Why was it that he was the only one who could see that this was his fault?

“And that was his choice to make,” she said firmly. “Oliver _chose_ to help you because he loves you.”

“Well, this isn’t _Oliver’s_ fault,” he retorted.

“I’d blame the guy who put a sword through his chest, personally,” Thea told him, trying to lighten the mood. When she saw that it didn’t help, she sighed. “Listen—”

Barry’s cell phone cut off whatever she was going to say. He bit his lip as he saw that it was Dr. Wells. Should he answer? Part of him was screaming at him to just ignore it. Oliver was convinced that Wells was involved somehow with the man in yellow. What if he were right?

Then again, if _Wells_ was calling him and not Cisco or Caitlin, it could be important. Or it could be a trap.

Barry glanced down at Oliver, knowing that it was his fault that the man was lying in a hospital bed with a punctured lung. Did he really care if it was a trap?

“Hello?” he answered.

“Barry, you need to come back to Central City,” Wells told him, an urgent edge to his voice that Barry had never heard before. “Leonard Snart has taken Caitlin.”

 

 

Eobard smiled as he hung up the phone, satisfied that Barry would certainly come home now. He had been holed up in Starling City ever since the Reverse Flash had attacked the Arrow.

He scowled at the memory. He should have killed Queen when he had the chance. It would have been easy. Too easy, really. That had been the problem. He hadn’t wanted to give Oliver Queen an easy death. He wanted to make him suffer.

After all, what right did the other man have to take Barry from him?

If only he had anticipated Firestorm arriving when he did.

At least he hadn’t had to arrange something himself to get Barry back to Central City. The soon-to-be Green Arrow might grow suspicious of him if he did. He knew Detective West was already leery of him. If both his foster father and his boyfriend tried to convince him that poor Harrison Wells was evil, Eobard was sure Barry would believe it in a heartbeat.

He knew he’d have to reveal himself soon, but he wanted to wait until the opportune moment.

He particularly hoped that he’d be able to see the horror in Barry’s eyes as he realized his mentor had been sexually assaulting him for the past year.

tbc…


	20. Chapter Nineteen

“So Rory’s gun is basically a hand-held flamethrower,” Eddie commented, frowning at the footage that was playing the Cortex.

“Well, why can’t Barry just zip in and steal it from him?” Joe asked in confusion. “Fire don’t move that fast.”

“It’s not just fire,” Wells answered in a clipped tone. “It’s a beam of photonic energy that resonates at a frequency that excites the molecules around it and causes them to reach Planck’s temperature, or, in laymen’s terms, absolute hot. Since it is, essentially, a beam of light, and Barry can’t travel at the speed of light, he can’t outrun it.”

“Plus, Snart’s gun has a bleed over effect that slows down the molecules within twenty feet of him,” Cisco added, fingers flying over the keyboard as he searched for where Snart and Rory could be keeping Caitlin.

“What does that mean?” Joe asked sharply.

“It means I’ll be slower the closer I am to Snart,” Barry answered, speaking up for the first time.

As if two guns he couldn’t outrun weren’t bad enough, he thought derisively. Of _course_ one would slow him down, too. If he got out of this fight without being frozen or barbecued, he’d be lucky.

Then again, maybe he _deserved_ to be frozen or barbecued. Because he hadn’t been hear earlier, Caitlin had been taken hostage. Oliver had nearly _died_ because of him. Some hero he was. Sending his boyfriend in his place to confront the man in yellow. And then not being there for his friends when they needed him the most.

If Snart wanted to kill him, maybe he should just let him. With as much of a mess as he was, everyone would probably be better off without him.

“Found her!” Cisco shouted, throwing his fists up into the air in triumphant and breaking Barry out of his dark thoughts. “She’s in an abandoned warehouse on Bounder Ave! Man, why is it always an abandoned warehouse?”

“Snart will kill Caitlin if Barry goes now,” Wells pointed out.

“So you’d rather him have a showdown in the middle of Central City on _their_ terms, while endangering innocent people?” Joe asked incredulously.

“We can block off a dozen or so blocks around them,” Eddie suggested. “Make sure civilians stay clear.”

“Also,” Cisco inserted, “I’ve modified the cold shields I gave CCPD earlier. They should block the heat gun as well now.”

“Well, if we are gonna do that, we better get to it,” Joe declared, clapping his partner on the shoulder before pointing at Cisco. “You figure out how Barry can beat those guns, and you,” he said, swinging his finger to point at Barry, “better be careful.”

Barry forced back a wince as he nodded, feeling guilty for his previous thoughts. He’d just be an even bigger disappointment if he let Snart win. Not that he had been thinking of letting Snart win, he rationalized. Just preparing himself for the likely scenario. Not likely, he scolded himself. He couldn’t go into the fight thinking he was going to lose.

He felt like his insides were being torn in every direction. He was feeling so many emotions that he didn’t know how to process them all. Worry for Oliver and Caitlin, anger at Snart, Rory, and Ra’s, fear that the man in yellow was going to show up, suspicion at Wells, and guilt… so much guilt… 

“Barry!” Cisco called, causing his head to snap in the engineer’s direction. He gave him a concerned look. “You alright, man? I called your name three times and you didn’t hear me.”

Barry sighed heavily, glad that everyone else had disappeared during his little space-out. “Not really, but I can’t think about it all right now.”

He frowned. “Yeah, well, you can’t face Captain Cold and Heat Wave without your head in the game,” he told him. “Oliver is healing, right? And we’re going to get Caitlin out safely. Just focus on getting out of this fight alive, okay?”

_Focus, Barry_ , he could hear Oliver’s voice in his head.

It was easier said than done, though.

“Cisco, if I don’t—”

“No,” he said emphatically, looking more serious than Barry had ever seen him before. “Don’t say it, Barry. Don’t even _think_ it. You’re gonna go out there and kick some ass because if something happens, then Oliver is going to come here once he’s healed and kick some Cisco ass and I am not down with that.”

Barry actually cracked a smile at that. His boyfriend would _not_ be happy if something happened to him. God, and he had thought…

He took a deep breath, mentally steadying himself for the fight to come. “Alright, how do we neutralize those guns?”

 

 

It hadn’t been an easy fight. Getting Snart and Rory to cross their beams sounded great in theory, but it was a little harder to put into practice. If it hadn’t been for Eddie running into the thick of the things and shielding him, he would probably would be dead.

Thankfully, he had managed to stay focus while he was facing down the Rogues. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, though, he was quickly spiraling back down into a pit of fear, worry, and guilt.

He needed to get back to Oliver, but he couldn’t seem to find the will to stand up. He had taken off the suit and had hidden himself away in a random unused hallway, legs pulled up to his chest.

He was so caught up in his inner turmoil that he didn’t notice the other man’s approach until he said his name.

“Barry,” Wells’ said, voice a little bit too warm for Barry’s comfort.

He cringed away from the man as he wheeled closer, trying to make himself appear smaller against the wall. He could easily run away, but that would only make it seem like he suspicious of Wells. Which he _was_ , but if Wells was connected with the man in yellow, he didn’t want _him_ to know he was suspicious.

“You’re planning on going back to Starling City,” the other man commented.

“Actually, I planned on going to the Canadian hospital to be with Oliver,” he replied, voice coming out a bit more snappish than he wanted. He was never good at hiding him emotions, and now that he was feeling more emotions than he had ever felt, they seemed to be spewing out even when he didn’t want them to.

Wells sighed. “You can’t keep using Oliver Queen as a crutch, Barry,” he told him in a sorrowful voice. “You have to move past what happened with your mother’s killer. Dwelling on it will do no good.”

“I _can’t_ ,” he cried in anguish, bowing his head as his eyes filled with tears. “What he did…” 

Barry trailed off as he realized exactly what Wells had said. He froze, staring with unseeing eyes at his knees. How did Wells know that something had happened with the man in yellow? Why would he think that he was hiding in Starling? As far as his team at Star Labs knew, he hadn’t known that his mother’s killer was still around until he showed up at Mercury Labs.

So how did Wells _know_?

“I have to go,” he said hastily, running out of the building as fast as he could. He could feel himself on the verge of a meltdown. He had just realized that the man who had been a mentor with him was in league with his rapist. How was he supposed to process that?

He arrived at the hospital in record time, startling Thea as he zipped into the room. His breath was coming in harsh pants as he stood at next to Oliver’s bed.

Barry was vibrating he was shaking so hard. God, he had never needed Oliver more than he did right then. Needed him to wrap him in his arms and telling him it would be alright. Needed him to tell him that this didn’t change him. Needed him to say that this wasn’t _Barry’s_ fault.

The problem was that it _was_ Barry’s fault. _Everything_ was Barry’s fault. Oliver was in a coma because of him. The man in yellow had been able to get to him because he had _trusted_ Wells. He had let him in and let him run whatever tests he wanted on Barry.

He gave a strangled cry and fell to his knees, clutching the sheets of Oliver’s bed desperately. Tests. He had let Wells run _tests_ on him. Tests that had probably allowed the man to develop whatever it was that had immobilized Barry when the man in yellow had assaulted him.

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he scrambled away with a sob to curl into a ball, wedged into the corner of the bed and the wall. He stared up at Thea, who was gazing at him in wide-eyed concern.

“It’s okay, Barry,” she said soothingly, approaching him like he was a skittish horse. “You’re safe.”

Was he? If Wells was helping the man in yellow, then he knew exactly where Barry was. Well, maybe not exactly. He might not know the exact hospital he was at, but that was information he could easily find out. And even if he continued to stay in Starling with Oliver, Wells _knew_.

Wells knew _everything_. All of his weaknesses, all of the people he cared about, everything the man in yellow would need to control him. To _hurt_ him.

How was he ever supposed to be safe? He hadn’t been safe ever since the day the man in yellow had killed his mother.

He had been an idiot to think otherwise.

 

 

Well, that could have gone better, Eobard thought with a thoughtful frown. He had hoped to use Snart’s attack to convince Barry that he was needed full-time in Central City, that the villains wouldn’t wait for him to commute from Starling. An ideal opportunity had been presented to him in the form of Leonard Snart and Mick Rory, but the talk with Barry had gone less than ideally.

He was sure that he would have been able to convince Barry that hiding in Starling City was not the solution. Where had he gone wrong? What was he missing?

Perhaps it would have gone better if Oliver Queen hadn’t currently been in a coma. It would be hard to pry Barry from his vigilante boyfriend before he healed completely, Eobard surmised. It was possible that any plan to get the Flash to move back to Central city permanently would have to wait until Oliver Queen made a full recovery.

He screwed his mouth up in distaste. If it were up to him, Queen would never make a full recovery. The man was a thorn in his side, ruining all of his plans for Barry and taking away his favorite way of de-stressing. If it weren’t for Oliver Queen, Barry would be in Central City, under his constant surveillance and under the oh-so-benevolent Dr. Wells’ tutelage.

Eobard had been too lax. He had allowed Barry to stray too far from his influence. He was going to have to plan something drastic to get him back to Central City. He could no longer let this continue. It had to end.

But how?

He would like to think that Queen’s death would end things, but given Barry’s reaction to Oliver’s injuries, he might break entirely if he were to die. And while a broken Barry may be more pliable, he also might not be motivated to train harder. Even worse, he might lose focus in a fight and wind up dead himself.

And while Eobard certainly would not shed a tear for Barry Allen’s death, he _needed_ the Flash.

He sighed. Once again, he had proven that he was his own worst enemy. First, his actions caused him to be stuck in the past and relying on his mortal enemy to get him home, and now, he had driven Barry away because he was unable to keep his hands to himself.

Oh well, to err was human, but he could rectify this situation.

The only way to get Barry back, it would seem, was to help him _heal_.

It was disappointing, but he told himself that it would make the final reveal that much better.

After all, once he helped Barry heal from his assault, he’d be able to tell the Flash that the very man who had helped him get over the assault had been his assailant.

He smirked, assured that even if he helped Barry come to terms with everything, his peace of mind would only be temporary.

tbc…


	21. Announcement

Sorry this isn't a chapter. 

I’m trying to sanitize my life a bit with the new year coming up and all. This is a very personal decision on my part and I don’t want to discuss it too much, but I wanted to let my readers know that this will be impacting my fics because one of the things I plan to do is to cut smut out of my life, which means no more in my fics.

My stories with smut in them will either have those portions removed or will be deleted altogether. I just wanted to let you know that I will be going through and removing the explicit content within the next week. The story itself will remain up.

Sorry to disappoint you all.


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